ANBU
by ArtisansMuse
Summary: She's an agent to the Fire Lord, on of the last to her 'House' also an ANBU with many masks, Itachi protectorate of his village finds interest in her fiery spirit. Can they stay together? Or will their loyalties cause them to clash?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

She ran through the underbrush, dodging with all she was worth, the enemy close on her tail. Those kunai coming after her weren't just sharp little objects, they were poisonous sharp objects. Neither of which she liked to be hurled in her direction. She was tempted to discard her bright and colorful outer kimono, its flapping created noise, and its colors were unnatural to the forest. But, when it came to it, it could be used as her only identifying card and she wanted her people to find her.

She jumped down from the canopy in unnatural speed, throwing up a metal shield to umbrella her descent. These people were unnaturally persistent, although it was a good quality to have in some people. In this particular case, Sakura found it merely annoying. She absorbed the shock up her leg and channeled it through her body to her finger tips where she let a few paper bombs fly. She turned to run knowing that it wouldn't detain them for long. She was after all dealing with the infamous 'Akatsuki' for what they wanted her for, well least to say she had a lot of enemies.

She adjusted her porcelain mask, securing it, making sure that not a strand of her long pink hair got loose. She felt their chakra signatures flare up right behind her. They were following and unnervingly fast. She found herself at a cliffs edge. Trapped like a rat, shit, her fault for not checking the map thoroughly. From behind her she heard the leaves rustle, that was quick. She turned to look at them, looks like she was gonna have to dive down for it, and hope she didn't end up a mass of bones and flesh when she reached the bottom.

She pulled out her white sheathed katana ready for a fight. If it had been just one of them, she knew she would have managed just fine, but when there were two of them she didn't even want to try. She examined the two carefully, the blonde one with a blue eye had a slight smile on his face, so this was the rumored Deidra, she looked at the thing beside her, and he was the one called 'Sasori'. "Is our little game of tag over?" she asked, shifting her weight ready to throw herself off the cliff at any moment. She had full confidence that she could escape them, might as well learn why they wanted her.

"It was fun while it lasted, ANBU member Youkai-chan, but you've quite the bounty on your head. You are after all the Fire Lord's ANBU Black Op's Commander." She sighed; she hated it when people got too full of themselves. "Did you really think, Akatsuki member, Deidra and Sasori-san , that I would be that easily caught?" She threw herself backward and let herself fall, she watched as clay bombs made their way down toward her, she didn't have time for it. She held out her long katana and spun to slash at the ground, beneath her a gash opened in the air. Good to know that there was an open channel for her to enter.

She had to get back to her original mission before they had their little game across the country. She let herself go through the purple chakra colored mark floating in the middle of the air of where she slashed letting herself go into its purple depths it was time to go to Konoha, the fire lord was waiting for her report. She slipped through the chakra tear into the atmosphere and landed safely on her feet, on the ground and began leaping away leaving to slightly stunned akatsuki in the dust.

~(Itachi)~

Itachi sighed inwardly and looked at all of the paper work at the table. His discontent brother beside him, leave it to Tsunade to make Sasuke as his head Secretary in case file paper work. Really the woman worried too much, to Itachi subordinates were only good for decoration really he preferred to do the work himself to save Konoha from any part of negligence on their part if he were to entrust anything fully to a subordinate. Of course there were exceptions.

For the fifth time to today Itachi sighed. Sasuke was uncomfortable to be around. The never ending emotions that danced across his face, and the way he was angry all of the time, was not a pleasant thing to be with. That is ever since 'Akari, Kaguya' had been injured and put in a coma, his and Naruto's former teammate. If Itachi was correct the replacement for the girl would arrive today, Itachi hadn't had the time to look over her profile, he made a mental note to check on it later when Saske was out, he hoped that Tsunade chose someone with at least a little bit of talent. She had to be in order to put up with the trouble Duo of Konoha. Itachi heard the snapping of bamboo for the thirteenth time today Sasuke broke his pen. He had been like this all day since they found out that Kaguya was getting replaced. Itachi wasn't one to easily get irritated but this was getting old. "Sasuke." He brother turned an annoyed looked on him a look that Itachi should have been pulling on him. "What?" "Go out and cool down." The meeting with the new teammate was to take place soon.

If possible Itachi didn't want to cause any unnecessary friction. Sasuke turned an unsightly red then stormed out of the room mumbling under his breath. Itachi didn't understand his brother, to say the least. Then again, Itachi had never seen anyone so in love. That's right, Sasuke loved Kaguya, and now she was blind and crippled due to his inaction. They had been a flawless team, although Kaguya herself hadn't changed, she only slept there on the hospital bed, Sasuke felt responsible. Itachi could see what was going through the young 17 year olds mind right now. 'How dare they replace her! No one can replace Kaguya!'

The fool, if Kaguya woke up that would mean that she would now be out of danger. The way one of her legs had broken saving Sasuke would prevent her from ever entering the battlefield again. Although she couldn't fight anymore she had been a very good healer and can remain in the hospital, as a medic. Really it wasn't the end of the world, to Sasuke though it probably was. Kaguya after two weeks hadn't woken up despite any of the medics treatments.

Itachi signed a piece of paper work, it was a pity Kaguya had certainly been a skilled nin, all of that talent went to waste but that was the risk to being a nin, there was no 100% you would get out of any mission alive. Itachi dug through his mountain of paperwork, since Sasuke was out and he had the time to do it, he might as well look at the new girl's file. He picked out the carefully tabbed file and flipped it open. It was surprisingly thin which made him suspicious. Why would they send a novice to match up with an Uchiha and a raging jinchuuriki?

Unless there was information missing. He skimmed through the file it was extremely basic, even from her file she seemed like a mystery especially her looks. Why put a pink-haired green eyed girl on such a team? Itachi had to wonder what she was like, luckily for him being the Hokage's ANBU Commander and Black Op's director there was nothing he wasn't entitled to.

~(Sakura)~

She put away her mask and changed into different clothes before stepping on the road again. She effectively donned the mask of her maiden name ' Haruno, Sakura.' She walked on foot at a normal pace her katana bumping her back with every step she took, she adjusted her walk to be less predatory and more feminine, she softened the look of her eyes to make her seem more innocent. She put herself on the mind set of an average nin with abilities for healing and super strength.

Although usually she didn't add these features they were necessary she was being put in a, 'special' group so she needed to play the part. For now she had to seal off all of her modern fighting style patterns and work around them. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to do. Exercises without certain aspects were often trained into an ANBU of her caliber daily when she was off missions. It kept her at the top of her game, and for now she would treat this mission like one of them. Not only that it would throw the Akatsuki off of her trail for a while, as she gathered information. It was another one of those 'kill two birds with one stone' situations.

She walked through the Konoha gate in a slow and easy stride, her pink hair catching in the wind as she went to the check in desk and pulled out her papers, "Haruno Sakura. I'm here to replace a 'Akari, Kaguya' can you direct me to the Hokage's office?" Their eyes raked over her appearance, she held herself with careful feminine grace, aside from her usual regal queen bearing. To be an ANBU meant that you could easily conform to the views of others. She knew they noted her long straight pink hair, her green and light eyes, her knee high nin sandals, and her Chinese motif outfit.

It was different from her usual look but, for every ANBU mask she had, she bore herself and made herself a different character to match it. Right now though, she was a proud traveling nin, about to be accepted into a kind society. One of them handed her directions which she took with a courteous smile and gentle hands, with that she shouldered her pack and left, leaving for what she knew as pheromones fly all over the place.

She, held the map up as if she were looking at it, but in truth she had already seen the Konoha blueprints. She didn't need their direction but then again anything to play the part. A few minutes later she found herself at the Hokage Tower gate. Now to decide did she make a flashy entrance? Or did she make a professional one? She thought about the character she was constantly building for this role and decided to play it safe an do the professional one, flashy was for her other faces. She composed her face and walked in one foot after the other easily slipping into her role; she had after all played it more than a thousand times, to get it down pact.

After all, nothing was easily obtained even if you were a genius, a commonly misconnected word. To be a 'genius' you just got concepts better then some, it wasn't a particularly special thing to be, but with that power she was able to make it here today. She was directed to the door which she came to politely knock on. "Enter." Said the well trained military voice of the widely known Tsunade. It seemed that Sakura was right in choosing the more professional route. She opened the door to see the grand lady, Sakura closed the door behind her noting the many people in her room all of which she knew the names of. Naruto keeper of the Jinchuuriki, Kakashi son of White Fang, Azuma former revolutionist for the Fire Lord, and two of the Uchiha clan along with Tsunade and her assistant who cradled her pet by the name of Tonton.

She stood at ease while she awaited further instruction while the group surveyed her looks just as the guards had earlier. "Introduce yourself." Sakura felt a mental twitch, she wasn't used to being talked down to, even in her undercover jobs it looked like that was something else she would have to work on. "My name is Haruno, Sakura very nice to meet you all. I have been told that I will be replacing a 'Akari, Kaguya-san' who is currently in the hospital recovering from an accident prior to my hiring. I hope to get along with you all."

She took one step back to avoid a flying kunai although it was unexpected she made it a priority to always be on the alert. "I wasn't aware that the standard greeting in Konoha was to throw kunai at our potential team mates." She said with a smile, the boy who threw it looked stunned. The room in general was actually surprised so this hadn't been planned to test her capabilities, how boring. He was livid, his black hair standing his black eyes sharp. "You'll never replace Kaguya." So the boy loved this 'Kaguya' person. Think now how should I proceed?

That's right she was going for the professional wicked character. It was better for her to assert her dominance now rather than later, she didn't like being stepped on, and if her teammates didn't want to face her wrath she might as well give them forewarning. She took a step forward, "I had heard that the Uchiha clan was the brightest of the nin clans. And as the second son of the Main house. I would have thought that you were more intelligent and temperate to cope with your loss." She took another step forward a nice smile on her face, "So in other words does this mean your simply stupid for an Uchiha, because protocol demands that you show no emotion. Or does Konoha have a different set of rules I need to abide by? Sasuke-san."

She saw the way his eyes widened, "I had been told you would be difficult, however, I only expect that on a personal note not a professional note. Sharpen up boy, or you might possibly get yourself killed with that overactive temper of yours." She turned slightly to look at the blonde blue eyed boy who looked at her strange as well, Sasuke clenched his fist and settled, his face turning red.

It was standard to embarrass her subordinate when they slipped up that bad. Sakura turned back to an interested looking Hokage and pulled out her transfer certificates. "I'll state this again. I hope we get along, isn't that right Tsunade-san?" Tsunade took the think envelope with care. Tsunade probably already knew why she was there and who she was, but that didn't really matter. To Sakura this was just another little reconnaissance mission for their lonely Fire Lord who wished to hear more tales about the outside world. Poor man was terribly shut out from the world only able to look at things in wonder while he attempted to rule the country in that state. "I hope so Sakura-san."

She wondered how the royal court would be fairing without her, she worried to leave such matters in the Lord's hands as his right hand assistant she worried like a mother hen over her chicks. Everything the Lord decided affected the country in one way, shape or form. Truthfully she wasn't even sure he knew how to make the right decisions, but she had left him in her trusted subordinates care and hopefully that would be the end to it. And although she was anxious to return she was a bit relieved that she wouldn't have to dress in that stuffy six layered kimono in the summer weather with nothing but a fan to cool herself as she listened in on the meetings behind a bamboo screen.

In court her identity remained a secret her face was not known, she was addressed as 'Lady Haruno' and due to that discretion towards her identity she could remain free to do her ANBU work in peace. As the last of the Haruno clan she wanted to do her late noble parents proud. "Welcome to Konoha." The woman said back to her, Sakura was then introduced to everyone present, it relieved Sakura to know that the remainder of the meeting without a hitch. But, she knew like every mission that this was only the calm before the storm, because next she had to spend some time with her new 'teammates'. She had to somehow inject her presence in their lives, which wasn't easy since they didn't want her, which meant that a couple of friendly 'sparring' matches were in order.

If it was one thing she liked in her team was her dominance in it, people followed her not the other way around, and with two thickheaded muscle bound idiots as her partners she wasn't sure how well it would go over. Sakura walked to her new apartment she had sent all of her things there she was meeting with one of her many informants 'Ino' when Sakura parents were still alive they had met in the Yamanaka household as a friendly visit between friends and they hit it off without a problem and even to this day Ino remained loyal to her. Ino was also one of the few people who would know her true character, so it would allow her a little cooling time before she went out again to locate her teammates at the training field.

Quietly she opened the door, but as expected Ino gave her a big hug, "Long time no see Forehead girl!" Sakura smiled at her friend, it was certainly good to be back. "Back at ya, Ino-pig." She patted her comfortably on the back and smiled she handed her the case files, "Here's the do's and don'ts of Konoha girl, good luck." Sakura gave her a smile, "Thanks Ino-pig." The blonde girl waved away the thanks and laughed, promising to see her later as she walked out the door, leaving Sakura time to unpack. Sakura looked at the two boxes she had brought with her, it seemed that she was already gathering attention; the way the First heir of the Uchiha clan had looked at her was proof enough.

Slowly she began to set up elaborate traps, so secure that not even a mouse would get in. If it was another thing she liked, it was privacy. She took out her summoning scrolls, and summoned her ANBU masks, all nine of those different identities stared up at her with varying expressions. She, picked them up gently hanging them up on the wall, quietly whispering their names. It was time to create a new character, the character of the nin 'Haruno, Sakura'.

My new story! I hope you like it!


	2. Chapter 2

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Diclaimer: I own no part of naruto

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Chapter 2

"Kage, Seirei, Youkai, Karyuudo, Kagerou, Hotaru, Sawako, Watanuki, Enmu." Sakura stroked each mask in order, all of them her separate identities, putting them on the wall in their respective places. Kage, the shadow of the Iwa village, Seirei, the spirit of the Kuma village, Youkai, the demon, with no allegiance, Karyuudo, the hunter of Oto, Kagerou, the dragonfly of Konoha, Hotaru, the firefly of no allegiance, Sawako-the pleasant child, of Suna, Watanuki, the april fool, and Enmu, mist of the Kiri village. All of them were her, at the same time, she was someone else. Just as the title 'Lady Haruno' was her and at the same time it was not. Gently she put each and every outfit to each of the masks away.

She looked at them all lovingly and then hid them behind a summoned folding door, a bright kimono to remind her of why she was there. In turn it was also there to hide the masks that were cleverly hidden behind a tatami screen she had brought with her. She could have easily say that it reminded her of home if anyone were to ask about that one wall in her apartment, that the kimono held some sort of sentimental value, it was easy to spin stories, and fabricate lies it was just a matter of remembering them. It was how she lived, to conform to the needs of others and responding. She had been doing it so much, that ironically she had forgotten who she was, and only Ino could see that side, the being so confused with herself, that it was sad.

Sakura knew she was less than half of a human; she had killed many in cold blood and no remorse for the misery of others, she had her own motivations to spurn her on. It had first been to hunt down those who had wiped out her family, then it was to help the revenge of others, then the fire lord had discovered her when she had been asked to protect him. When he found out her lineage, he promoted her on his request and asked her for advice.

She had always conformed to others it had been within her parents training before they had died, at that time it was to make them proud, but now Sakura didn't know anymore, all that she had to herself were these masks and her name. But that was fine it was how she lived for so long. She put the cream colored sheets on her bed, a bouquet of flowers in a vase beside it. On the table gunpowder burning on the table like incense, a small trail of smoke in its wake reminding her of the battlefield sharpening her senses.

Beside the gunpowder, lay her medic implements, another part of her, ANBU mask Sawako's main implement, the tools of an ANBU medic. Everything there belonged to her masks all of those identities in that single apartment, ten people in all, all of them varying from kind to cruel. All of them were her and at the same time all of them she was not. When she was done packing she glanced at the clock it was a little over 3:00 hopefully her 'teammates' were at the training field. She touched the door knob sending a little of her personal chakra into the door disabling all of her traps so she may exit. She closed her eyes for a moment slipping into the 'Haruno, Sakura' persona.

It was time to begin.

~(Itachi)~

He had wanted to trail the girl, she was a very curious creature, and she had grilled his brother for his foolishness. A thing that he should have done, it made him happy that someone was finally putting the young shinobi in his place. She was a dominant factor, proud, but obedient, strong but recluse. Not only that but from what he had seen she was intelligent, but strangely brave, it was strange that someone her size would go up against a man a full head taller than her equip with sharingan.

It reflected that she was either rash or good at reading people. Whichever she was an interesting human being, and Itachi wanted to know her. He wanted to watch her, but sadly he didn't have the time for it. Not only that but it was beneath him to stalk humans he wasn't ordered to. But he would remind himself, to pry information out of her, the next time they met. He glanced at the clock then at his finished work, making another run over of the things he needed to do today, finding that he had time to drift in the town, perhaps he would bump into the woman again.

If he read her correctly she was a professional sort of person. Assuming that, it meant that in order for her to merge on their team she would find any time to become a familiar presence in their lives. Without that essential bond, she wouldn't be able to function with them, properly at least. Including the fact that Sasuke was hardheaded and wouldn't accept an equal of her looks, Itachi had the feeling that she would approach them on their own terms, taking anything they had and throwing it back. They way she stepped back before Sasuke's kunai could touch her, showed Itachi of her constant alert state, and now he wondered how much power did she have to back it up.

Itachi took his cot slinging it on, and walked out the door, the training grounds where Sasuke and the Kyuubi container, were usually at. From what Itachi had seen she was well informed about their behavior, their names, and their habits. Itachi wanted to assume that Tsunade had given out that information, it was hard to believe she learned them on the fly like that. No matter how good she was, Itachi didn't think for a moment anyone could be that good at profiling. Not even he was that good. Then again he could be wrong, but that he felt was an extremely unlikely occurrence.

~(Sakura)~

She strolled through the village not minding the curious glances that people shot her; she needed to make it seem as if she wore her emotions on her sleeve, to complete this new character. She looked around with observing eyes making sure to add a glint of interest. This was after all her new supposed 'home'. Slowly but surely she made her way to the training field. Even from the distance she could hear the shouting and clashing of kunai and senbon. She felt herself instinctively want to tense, it was the sound of battle and it was calling her.

She took in a deep breath to remind herself that this was merely a spar. Not time to kill. She looked out to the trees and watched her new two teammates battle it out observing their techniques. She watched the one called 'Sasuke' use his sharingan, she would have to be careful of that. Even so, she would have to submit to those eyes, if he happened to look in her direction mostly because she was under cover and she supposedly did not know the full extent of his abilities. In reality she did, Ino had written it all down. She had specifically created a jutsu to keep her in her mind, and if a kekkai genkai manifested in the eyes were to turn on her she could effectively draw them into her mind and kill their body while they tried to subdue her within her own mind. It was a skill she had perfected with 'Kage' her first ANBU mask.

She adjusted her kunai pack and things, affixing the temporary Konoha head band on her head before stepping out making her presence known. She had to approach the situation carefully, knowing the two before her they would not accept her that easily. The blonde one seemed more accepting but, the black haired one did not. They stopped abruptly turning their gazes toward her as she smiled kindly in their direction a small wave permitting, as expected of them the blonde one waved back a big grin on his face while the other one did not.

"Hey! Care for a little match?" For a moment they looked stunned, "What? Afraid you'll lose?" she said a smirk played on her lips. For a moment it was silent but she knew their responses, "Hn, I don't fight weak women." "Yeah sure!" they both said at the same time. She raised one of her brows in speculation. "Oh?" She looked over the young Uchiha, "Have you ever heard the saying, 'if you handle the fire stay out of the kitchen'?" she asked, "If you can't handle the thought of being unable to defeat me Uchiha then just shut up and do as I say."

She watched mildly interested as the Uchiha boy turned a slight red a deadly glare in his eyes. She gave him a cocky smirk, without warning again he lunged at her with a kunai. Expertly she grasped his hand and used his stabbing momentum to whirl around him and position the pointed part at the back of his head. He was too hot headed at the moment to think clearly, about his actions toward her and at this position she couldn't see his red whirling eyes. She knew that if she looked into them he wouldn't have any mercy in the genjustsu he would put her in. She had heard that a sharingan user could bring forth memories of the opponent and use them to plague them, and that was something Sakura did not want to allow happen.

"Sorry, but you'll have to try better than that."

~(Itachi)~

He arrived at the groups usual fighting field, to find that it, looked as if a war had been fought there. The ground was torn, trees fallen, Itachi could even see traces of the Chidori and Rasengan that had bit into the trees. Had they gotten into another argument? He saw a flash of pink fly by in front of him, it was Sakura, she stood plainly in the open a moment later surveying the battlefield with calculating and alert eyes.

She had a few scrapes, and bruises, part of her shirt was torn off but from what Itachi could see she was unharmed, quite a feat considering the condition of the field. Itachi watched as she whirled to plant a solid kick in Naruto's kage bunshin. Quickly she stepped to aside, as Sasuke passed by a katana in hand. It was quite amazing to see her dodge effectively, using the barest minimal of chakra, showing excellent chakra control. He watched as they continued that until she faded out of existence effectively hiding her chakra, so well Itachi was having a hard time locating it.

Naruto and Sasuke appeared on the field, from where she used to be varying in expressions, his brother being in the bad mood he had been all day looked around with his sharingan in dissatisfaction, Naruto had a curious but tense demeanor that indicted the intensity of the fight. Not a moment later Itachi felt the girls chakra flare to life as she grabbed each of their legs from beneath them and pulled them down to the ground effectively burying them only their heads showing.

Amusing it was just what Kakashi had done to them during those first few months as genin, Itachi wondered why she did that particular move, did she know or was it coincidence? Due to his shinobi upbringing he had a hard time believing that it was the latter. Quietly he turned away, it seemed that he had to keep a closer eye on the girl, if he didn't, he had a feeling he might regret it. And regret was something no Uchiha should have to live with.

~(Sakura)~

She looked at them from their positions one was shocked beyond all reason and the other glared at her darkly. She had to laugh; she had bound the earth to compress them making it hard for them to free themselves. She pretended to take in deep breaths as they were doing sending lightly chakra waves through her body to simulate sweating. She needed it to seem as if she had normal stamina. In reality she didn't feel tired at all; then again when you become the personalities of several ANBU characters who fought for days and days on end without rest, you built up the stamina naturally.

"I told you..you had to…do better than…that." She said between deep breahs, they breathed equally as hard, "You're awesome… Sakura-chan." She smiled at the blonde shinobi, "You're not bad yourself…Naruto-kun," one down, one to go. She was tempted to look at Sasuke but had a feeling that if she did she would be drawn into a genjustsu of the past. She didn't want him to see those memories in risk of exposing who she was and she herself didn't want to face up to it. She took in one final deep breath and her breathing evened out. She kneeled down before the two protruding head, a mischevious smile touching her lips, "Now… What to do with you guys?"

She gave them a considering look, and then sighed, "I guess you guys can dig yourselves out." She got up to turn around and was stopped by a voice, "Eh? Wait! Sakura-chan! Don't leave me here with teme! Please! We'll do anything!" She stopped, "Speak for yourself dobe." Came the gruff reply of the darker male, but she ignored it. "Hmm…" She turned to look at them, sizing them up, as her chakra kept both of them there. "Treat me to Yakiniku and show me around town, and I'll let you out." Sakura smiled at them, their faces both holding the same amount of confusion.

"Hey, it's not like I'm asking a lot you know. Or do you find even that little request hard?" Naruto blushed a deep red, and Sasuke grumbled, she was making progress, somewhat. "Do you agree or not?" She asked acting a bit impatient. Sasuke sighed and gave out a gruff. "Fine." Naruto beamed his sunny brightness. "Sure!" It was a relief to know that she had been accepted, although it hadn't been too easy, it was quick, it wasn't solid, but it was the beginning of a foundation, and for Sakura that was good enough.

When she was sure they wouldn't attack her she withdrew her chakra letting it soak back into her, a useful undetectable feature she had made up, the ability to retract chakra from special Justus such as these. She put to hands together and pretended to disperse her little trap flaring her chakra a bit to create a show, with the sharingan still activated she didn't want to take any chances. She was sure that Sasuke if he looked hard enough could see her true chakra stores weren't even touched by their little tiff, truthfully this had only been a small warm up session, but she wouldn't tell them that.

It was true that they were strong, but their lack of experience made them inefficient, making it so that she didn't have any particular problems subduing them, if they had some more time in the field she was sure that if she remained in the state she was in now, they would catch up to her pretty quickly, something that she wasn't willing to happen. She took a step back allowing them to pull themselves out of the ground. She gave them a smile, and urged them to lead the way, she looked to the sky during their little fight the sun was beginning its journey down, a good thing, it seemed that once in a long time she would have a proper meal at the proper time.

She guessed it was one of the perks of being an 'ordinary ninja' while she thought that though she knew that there would never be a time where she wouldn't think to the darkness and its wonders, even if it were terrifying. Sakura knew that she would always stray to the darker side, to her ten other selves. This was just a temporary position, and she of all people knew the best that nothing lasted forever.

~(Itachi)~

It never cease to amaze him how the influences of others could cause a ripple effect in the people. It seemed that the girl had made herself slip into the Konoha society in a matter of hours, her attracting and charismatic smile drew people in, her dominance, and mystery let people listen to her. Her strange looks never ceased to amaze. Even so Itachi felt off about the girl, what was strange was he couldn't grasp her personality, he couldn't help but feel the same others felt about her, wanting to know more and watch her. Yet, she kept a professional distance with most, as subtle as it was, she made people around her feel comfortable, which made Itachi wonder, what hand of fate made the girl choose the life of a shinobi when she could have been great in any other department.

She wore her emotions on her sleeve, not a commonly known thing for a shinobi, it was strange, she was strange, and the way she seemed to easily trust made him curious to how she had survived being a nin for all of these years with no village to back her up and protect her. He admitted that her power was great, but not so great that she could defend herself from mass invaders. He only had to wonder. He sipped at the tea, quietly while listening to Genma, talk about his latest conquest. Itachi himself though didn't give a damn.

He watched her movements many of them were unnecessary from what looked to be habitually formed; no matter how he looked at it this girl was not fit to be a ninja. Even so, her blatant display of dominance was magnificent; Itachi certainly thought that she had the fighting potential. Maybe if he invested in a mask like their famed Copy-nin, she would be a more proficient kunoichi. "-so what do you think Itachi?" He looked into his tea, waiting for his order to come in and only replied with a curt, "Hn."

Thanks for reading! Please Review cus I'm just that lonely sort of girl ^.^

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"Anonymous"- thanks for liking my story XD and since I can't directly pm you I'll thanks you here ^.^


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for your support and the favoriting and story alerts

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it besides my little twists!!

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Chapter 3

She sat at her window sill looking at the report while she dried her long pink hair with the soft beige colored towel. Ino had certainly done her work well, the report had details to even the minutest, it was good to know that Sakura had chosen the right person for the job.

The neatly written script explained the history and structure of the village, reasons for everything and the main shinobi to look out for. As far as Sakura could see the only people she really had to look out for were. Itachi Uchiha heir to the Uchiha clan and ANBU captain, Kakashi Hatake the famed Copy nin, and Tsunade the Fifth. All of them closely related to team 7, the team she was joining. She sighed, she had literally thrown herself into the enemy ranks by joining the trouble team of Konoha. And she thought it would be a relatively easy mission.

Even so, it meant that she could keep an eye on them as well. She casted a wary eye toward the wall opposite of her, knowing that her masks hid behind the tatami screen folding door, and propped up kimono. There was more than one reason fire lord had wanted her to go on a mission along with this one, she had been asked to look into the case of Danzou and check the loyalty of Konoha. Although she understood that he was a big factor of Konoha, the Fire Lord did not like him from the reports that were given, which meant she had to do a little snooping. The only question was who to choose for this mission?

Kage, was meant for the shadows, but in all essentiality her first mask was too much like an ANBU that if she were being pursued by others like that the possibility of her being caught were high, as Kage was famed for merely killing a mass number of villains but not particularly special in any way. Watanuki the April fool was out, too many unnecessary movements that were meant for being flashy. She thought about the others, and their personalities, and as much as she thought about it there was only one who could fit the bill, and that was Enmu(mist) of the Kiri village.

Through Enmu she would be able to infiltrate ROOT without any problems, Enmu was master of infiltration and espionage, and that was the character most suited for this mission. As for the loyalty of Konoha, she found that it wouldn't be difficult to discern that. She flipped to the nest page that thoroughly described the people she was concerned about in general. All of them exceptional and at one point in the ANBU forces at one point, then again all of the best went through ANBU one way or another, Sakura knew because she was one of those few, how else would she be able to garner such a famed reputation through her nine different ANBU selves?

The last time she had read in the bingo books she or her ANBU selves were wanted by all, either for hire or to eliminate. Even so, she had never been caught, and she would like to keep it that way. There had been times when she had been close to being caught but, she had escaped, thus the reason why she was here today. She swung her les off the sill, putting the information away in a summoning scroll. She tapped various places in the floor, in a series of pattern-like taps, as expected the floor opened up, and she placed the scroll in the little hide out.

She had rigged hr apartment to have little secret hiding places like that since, it was out of the question if she were to go outside to hide things. She was after all not on her own terms. She glanced at the clock, Ino was going to be there soon, she was going to do her mission tonight, and Ino was her alibi, not that the girl knew. Quickly she slung on her 'Enmu' outfit, and summoned a bunshin to take her place, they clasped arms and Sakura let herself transform into a dove, her messenger birds.

The clone tied a blank piece of paper to her leg and set her free, whispering a small 'good luck' to the wind.

~(Itachi)~  
He strode through ROOT, case files in hand making yet another delivery to the wayward faction of the ANBU division, he never liked visiting ROOT considering that people like Danzo were here. The old man still resented the fact that he never got the position as third Hokage. Itachi didn't see why Konoha had not wiped out this faction all together, in Itachi's eyes they were just a loose end that needed to be tied up from the previous war.

Even so they had their uses, that is in bloody assassination, Itachi had spent a little time in ROOT and their mission were short from massacres all of them designed to get rid of nin who were competing with Konoha for power in the fire country. They were the people who handled the darker side of Konoha, but that didn't make Itachi like Danzo, in fact Itachi barely tolerated the old grave robbing man. It was no secret that he had stolen Shisui's right arm and sharingan. Itachi could feel Shisui's chakra off of the old man which made Itachi not like the man even more. He was disgusted, the dead were meant to be left in peace, and if the sharingan weren't enough, the old man had taken Hashirama's DNA implanted into his other arm.

Danzo was the center of conspiracies of Konoha, and dint know how to leave a situation well enough alone, it was no surprise that Orochimaru had worked with him at some point before becoming an S-class criminal. Even so the old man had his uses, which is why Itachi mildly tolerated his existence, although there were some times where Itachi felt that they were better off without the old man, unfortunately no one had enough proof to prosecute the wayward member of the Hidden Leaf village, after all, all of the ROOT members revered to him as if her were a god and covered up for him.

Itachi did believe that the old man would meet his downfall soon, for better or for worse of this village, and Itachi felt that the old man knew it as well, and was panicking why else would the old man kick his movements into high gear rather than the cold calculating movements the old man was known for doing. It disgusted Itachi that the man just wanted to feel the power of Hokage even if for a few moments. Itachi suppressed his chakra, making sure to keep it to himself; he already knew he had people following him from the shadows as a silent escort. Even so, that set him on edge, and he kept his chakra close so that he could feel for any malevolent movements.

His footsteps barely echoed off of the walls but they still produced sound, he turned the corner to the case files unit. He didn't like the darkness around him and the fact that more than two or three people were following him with such persistency. The old man was certainly being careful, but the blatant paranoia meant, that Danzo was up to something. He opened the door, more darkness greeted him. Even so he felt something off with the air, it was barely noticeable, but he felt another presence in the air, watching him. It didn't feel like any of Danzo's men, this one felt more powerful and quiet. He took a step into the room, his allowing his eyes to bleed red. He gripped the scroll case files, and threw them hard to his far left.

He looked to that side, and saw a shift in the air, someone was certainly there and had dodged the fly scrolls, from what Itachi knew none of the ROOT members would ever try to attack him, and this one seemed to try and blend in with the atmosphere, if Itachi hadn't been paying attention he knew that he would have missed this particular invader. Itachi reached for his kunai, a bit surprised someone had the skill and gall to actually break into ROOT, a well known ANBU facility. Itachi felt the spike in the air, as the tension rose, the faint chakra signature still muffled.

Even though this intruder was getting information about ROOT, he or she was still an invader, and had to be dealt with at once. Itachi threw the kunai and began their fight. He watched as the genjutsu dropped, a mask slightly grey with faint outlines of roaring waves came to view, he felt a subdued, breeze chakra greet him. Blank mask, with waves up one side, a hooded shirt and long gloves as was the standard ANBU gear, but Itachi knew that this wasn't a comrade. If he recalled correctly, the one standing before him, was the infamous, Enmu of the village hidden in the mist.

~(Sakura)~

She dodged the incoming kunai, which came at her at a high speed. She pulled out kunai of her own, she had been surprised to find that Itachi could see her, but at the same time it was expected. She kept her movements breezy like the wind, appearing in and out of sight hoping to stall him until she got to the door. She didn't think that she would be fighting two Uchiha in one day. Even so, she knew that this battle and the little warm up she had with Sasuke and Naruto were not in the same league, it couldn't be classified as that.

Uchiha, Itachi was also a well sought after nin as well, she had even heard that the Akatsuki were considering on asking whether or not to join them. She knew that any chance she gave him he would try and kill her, and/or bring her in for questioning neither of which she was willing to happen. She jumped up to avoid another barrage of kunai, he was closing in fast and at this rate she knew she was going to get caught. He allowed no opening from the left and right. If she were just Haruno Sakura she could have surprised him by creating a chasm in the ground but, that was not a piece of information she was willing to give away.

She jumped back darker into the recesses of the darkness where it was pitch black, and then she created a clone and transformed herself into a kunai. The clone picked her up and threw her at the Itachi as expected he dodged. She flew through the door way and used the speed to bounce off the wall, she retained her normal shape, and began to soundlessly run down the halls, halfway out she felt the recordings of her battle come into mind, she was thankful the clone had lasted that long.

She slipped into her genjutsu, a technique that made anyone who looked at her not see her, she ran silently past many ANBU rushing to the scene were Itachi was fighting, he truly was a formidable opponent, if she had to fight him head on she wasn't too sure of her abilities to defeat him. A situation she did not appreciate in the least. She found a nearby door, and went through it, going to the outside, to safety after closing the door with a sound click.

~(Itachi)~

Truly like the mist, unattainable, and mysterious, Itachi stood among the remains of many important documents wondering what it was that their enemies wanted with the documents stored in this room. "Uchiha-sama." Came a quiet greeting from an ANBU who had quietly come to approach him, from the tone they were wondering what had happened, useless buffoons.

"You had an intruder here, ANBU, what's wrong with your security tonight?" Itachi asked picking up a kunai that had been thrown by Enmu of the mist, the owner's chakra was slowly ebbing away decreasing the likeliness of tracking him or her down. But, Itachi knew that the owner was long gone, it was an impressive to know the person had distracted him with just a clone, and at the same time it made him mad. "Intruder?" the ANBU asked an edge of incredulity in his voice, Itachi turned his crimson gaze on the ANBU before him, "Yes, an intruder, Enmu of the mist as a matter-of-fact. Now, why would Enmu want to look through ROOT files?"

He saw many of them stiffen, even though he had lost track of Enmu of the mist his/her infiltration gave them enough leeway to investigate ROOT, hopefully halting Danzo's next plan of action and allowing them to raid the base, Itachi turned keeping the lone kunai in hand as a reminder to get back at this 'Enmu' person Itachi did not like being tricked, it was not an often occurrence. Itachi touched his arm gently pulling away to find a lone scratch the clone had inflicted on him. Enmu had been a fierce fighter. "A report will be filed, ANBU. Prepare for a full out investigation in a few days." Very gently Itachi opened the door and closed it leaving the ANBU to boil in their fear.

Itachi, walked down the street, uncomfortable with the situation at hand, first the girl and now Enmu, how much of coincidence? He had thought that this 'Sakura' person was suspicious, but whether it was his shinobi sense or plain curiosity, he didn't know. For now he would have to watch and wait, he had found that no matter how stressful waiting could be it was often the most effective way to find information. Too bad he hadn't given Enmu a bad wound if he had he could differentiate between Sakura and their lovely Mist nin.

~(Sakura)~

She transformed into a squirrel and scaled the wall to her apartment, the window left opened by her clone, the lack of sound indicating that Ino had gone home by now. That had been a close call, but she had gotten plenty of information, a pity that it had only been the tip of the proverbial iceburg, but it looked like, Konoha would take some action and look into ROOT. She hoped a little of that information would come her way. Hope however was a vague concept so she wouldn't put must trust into it. She leapt into the opened window and scampered to a dark corner away from the open window to transform. Simultaneously her bunshin disappeared.

She leaned against the cool wall of her room and sighed taking off her mask. She would have to be more careful nest time. She hastily changed out of her clothes into the safety of pajamas letting her bounded hair go free, messing it up slightly so that if anyone knocked she could claim that she had been sleeping. She hid her ANBU mask and outfit back behind the tatami screen, she then took one of the blanks scrolls and wrote down all that she remembered, she hadn't read much before Itachi had interrupted her but she did know that a lot of the cases were the same. Why were the missions so bloody? Why were there current movements to contact the Akatsuki? Why contact the Kiri village? There were so many factors she didn't know, but all of them weren't pointing in a good direction at this rate she might just have to assassinate Danzo of ROOT and take out his followers.

She stretched and hid the scroll in the compartment in the floor before resetting all of her traps with a single flare of her chakra then slipping into bed where she would ponder some more. From what it looked Danzo was planning another crackpot scheme to take over Konoha, although she and her parents had no part in the ninja wars, she knew of them very well. Danzo was probably one of the straws that broke the camel's back when it came to that war, the Fire Lord liked peace in his realm and that didn't exclude the shinobi world, She stretched and turned over, to close her eyes, the investigation warranted more snooping, and it seemed that Enmu would be worked out a little more than she had thought. She curled into the warmth of the blanket, and slept.

She woke to the early sun and a knock at the door. She opened her eyes aware, to everything around her there were two nin outside her door neither of them were Naruto or Sasuke, she knew this would happen so she had set up the alibi with Ino, she rolled out of bed and put on the face of exhaustion from her clones memory they had drunken a lot of sake. She ruffled her clothes and faked a yawn before unlocking the door while sending her chakra in to disable her traps, "Yes? Who *yawn* is it?" she looked up into a pair of black eyes; she stiffened, as she spotted him along with the ANBU member behind him.

"May I help you?" she asked nervously as if she cared about her current appearance. "Haruno, Sakura, where were you last night?" she looked nervously at his dark piercing eyes, in reality she was used to such confrontation, even as the Fire Lords advisor people try to look down at you even if you were behind a tatami screen, she was used to this sort of pressure and there was no way she was going to break under it, "Drinking with Ino. Why?" She smoothed out her hair pretending like she was composing herself, into nin mode even though she was dressed in an oversized t shirt and a pair of short shorts. She squared her shoulders and looked the older Uchiha straight in the eye giving nothing, in all technically she had been drinking with Ino.

"Last night we had a break in at one of the ANBU headquarters." He said still looking down at her. "And, I suppose you suspect me?" "I wouldn't be here if I hadn't." She gave a slight smile, "Well at least you're being honest about it." She took a step back, "If you'd like we can discuss this inside, I have a feeling that if you stay out there you might darken the day of the citizens who are working outside. Don't want to make them nervous right?" She nodded her head in the direction of the ANBU behind him. "Especially if people like that are going to be with you. I don't really want to be ostracized in the village after just a day here."

She watched as the two stepped into the darkened little apartment, a dangerous place to have them, but she had confidence in her concealment skills Enmu was for stealth, and she was the main instigator to all of these tricks. Gently she closed the door not bothering to reset her traps; she wouldn't want any of the two behind her to see them. She turned and walked to the kitchenette and began making some tea, "So. How shall we begin?"

Yay! Next one! I'm cranking these out pretty quickly it's only been two days since I started this series too!!

REVIEW!!! I am an incredibly lonely sort of person!!!!!XD


	4. Chapter 4

Thankies for Favoriting, and Story alerting people!!!

Disclaimer: HAhahahaa I could only wish I owned this series….

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Chapter 4

She sipped at the hot tea, a stalk of it sticking straight up, wasn't that supposed to mean good luck? She glanced at the two at her table the silent ANBU and Itachi Uchiha, looking at her. Apparently whoever thought up the expression was on crack because this definitely wasn't her lucky day. "Enmu? You mean that kick ass nin of the Kiri village? Why would Enmu be here? I know that Konoha and Kiri aren't getting along too well but surely that doesn't warrant the deliberate snooping. More importantly what does it have to do with me? As I told you before I was with Ino, Yamanaka drinking."

She took another sip of her heated tea; she crossed her legs as if it were out of habit, as she made it look as if she were trying to soak in the warmth of the porcelain cup. "How do you know Yamanaka Ino? If I recall correctly, according to the reports you've never been to this village." She sighed and stretched not caring whether she was in the presence of one of Konoha's royalty, not like he would do something to her for stretching. "That's where you're a bit wrong. I have been here before, but that was a long time ago, we met then and we've been writing letters to each other for a while. She's actually the one who told me about this whole 'temporary member' job so I could try out Konoha and consider settling down."

They looked at her for further explanation and she sighed again, as if she had repeated the tale a thousand times to a bunch of grumpy five year olds. "I came here when I was around five with my parents when they were still alive we were going here for a little visit we were carrying a message of our own and a mission, at least that's what I remember, when my parents were talking to the mission commissioners I went to the playground to play and that's where I met Ino. We left the next day back to our home end of story." Of course that wasn't the end of it, but it was close enough to the truth and even if he was an Uchiha he could fault her lies, or differentiate between her lies and her truths, she hadn't shown him lying and she could her lies look like truths.

"What was the mission about?" She looked at him, she felt a tinge of sadness, she knew what it had been about but that didn't mean she would tell him, "I don't know, I was too young to remember or even care. I thought it was just boring 'grown up' stuff." They made eye contact and it almost scared her to see his eyes bleed red, just as they had last night. Those truth seeking eyes, "You better not lie to me kunoichi." Sakura met his gaze with equal boldness and told him honestly, "I'll answer your questions, but you do understand that I will not give you all of my secrets, I'm entitled to my personal life am I not?" She was tempted to shoot him a cold look that was of steely armor for intimidation just as he was trying to intimidate her.

But, she didn't that wouldn't be in the best interest of this mission. She expected his next move but didn't move to get out of the way, he had her chin in his thumb and forefinger, as if she were scared she let her eyes widen. "Until we meet again then kunoichi," Just as suddenly she heard the soft clicking of the door, she didn't like the dangerous road she was taking but when she thought about it this wasn't the first she walked down this sort of road.

She had to watch out for Itachi Uchiha, something she knew before, but now, all she wanted was to get out of this mission alive. She smirked to herself, as scary as he was, it seemed that he would make the playing field a bit more fun; looks like this mission wouldn't be too boring after all, at least when you had an opponent like Itachi things could certainly never get boring. Not only that but he wasn't hard on the eyes, she knew the unfounded attraction was there, and that was why he gravitated toward her, just as many others had before him. Only he couldn't be classified the same as them, the men in court didn't know anything of the outside world only able to fantasize about her rather then look at her and see past the façade. She had to give the man credit, Uchiha Itachi was good and if they had met under different circumstances she might have wanted to seduce him, not now though, maybe on a later date.

She drank the last bit of her tea and got up to take a shower, a new day awaited her and she wasn't going to spend it lying around.

~(Itachi)~

He hadn't meant to snap like that, but something about her felt a bit fake. The way she looked into his eyes all doe-like and innocent, those were not the eyes of a shinobi hardened by missions, something she would have had if she had been a real kunoichi it was either she was playing about being a ninja or she was faking those expressions neither of which had pleased him. Something about her intrigued him, he found that there more to her that met the eye, the way she looked straight into his sharingan with her eyes, as if it were a direct challenge.

The only people who had the nerve to do that were other high ranking clans. Even then under his gaze they shied away, it seemed that she had the confidence to fight on his level an interesting prospect seeing as the day before she had been huffing over a round with Sasuke as impressive as that was Itachi could hardly be placed in the same category as his younger brother. He fingered the kunai he had received from 'Enmu' there was a distinct possibility this 'Sakura' person was Enmu, and that intrigued him to no end, he wanted to know what he could extract from such a brilliant nin.

Even so, that didn't change the fact that 'Enmu' was a threat to the village, as interesting as  
Sakura was, that alone warranted her immediate elimination. For now though he would keep that information for himself, he couldn't report to the Hokage on mere speculation, but if there was one thing he was going to accomplish was unravel the person that was Haruno Sakura. "You are dismissed." He called to the following ANBU the only reason why he had been accompanied was the ROOT wanted to know what Itachi was up to, in a way it was sort of like taking care of many factors with one pawn in play. ROOT would keep an eye on the girl as well and the more under pressure she was the more she was bound to slip up.

If the girl thought that she could dodge him with mind games of her own, Itachi would provide the materials to keep the game in play, he wanted to see how long it would take to make the girl crack.

~(Sakura)~

She hated the way they followed her from the shadows, although they did try to hide their chakra with her superior senses she could feel them, she didn't call out to them, she left them alone not wanting to raise suspicion no normal ninja could sense their presence. That was what it was to be ANBU. She walked down the road merrily on her way toward the training field today they would work on their individual skills and hone them in preparation for the next sparring match, she knew that both Naruto and Sasuke would try equally hard to catch up to her, as if she'd let that happen.

She adjusted her outfit, making sure all of her weapons were present reminding her that Itachi had one of her Enmu kunai from the night before, it seemed that he was trying to track her through the chakra remnants, clever but she was as always a couple of steps ahead. She had made it so that any weapon of hers she touched they would leave no traces of chakra after a total of two hours, out of being in her presence. A useful feature that is personalized only by your specific chakra waves, all for the sake of creating a better assassin. The thought was sad, to create something to aid in killing, somehow it wasn't justified, but even still she did it.

She looked up to listen to the familiar sounds of clashing kunai and the shouts that emanated from the field it looked like there were more people to train today, that meant she would meet a few more people, always a good thing considering she was trying to discern the loyalty of Konoha. She walked through the familiar path of trees affixing a small smile on her face. Upon her approach to the group she received an immediate response from the hyperactive blonde on her team, a nice kid. She received a turned away looked from the Uchiha, funny how they're personalities were so different but were the best of friends. She supposed that being snubbed by the other Uchiha instead of a sharp insult mean that he was beginning to accept her.

In their little group, she saw a Hyuuga, a boy with a horribly styled green outfit named 'Rock-Lee' if she had remembered correctly and a girl with two buns on each side of her head named 'Tenten' at least according to her report. The three looked at her curiously as she walked up to them leisurely. "Sakura-chan! Meet, Neji, Tenten, and Fuzzy-Br- I mean, Lee." She met their gazes and extended a warm hand in their direction, "Nice to meet you, I'm Sakura." She shook the Hyuuga's hand first, a stoic look on his face, although she could feel the urge to use Byakugan on her, understandable since she was new and mysterious he probably wondered how someone like her could take down a sharingan user and an unpredictable ninja, she made a mental not that she'd have to be careful around those eyes as well.

Rather than that though she was interested to see the comparisons between the Sharingan and the Byakugan, it was a scientifical study she wanted to get her hands on, next to greet her was the weapons master who greeted her normally, and the last gave her a rather flippant response, "Nice to meet you blossom of the sky! This Lee will show you his youthful greatness." She gave him a tittering laugh at the incredulity of the situation, whoever taught him those lines must be desperate for a date, but he took it as a compliment, just as she expected him to. She noted the ANBU's in the trees watching the situation, she hadn't set off the senses of the Byakugan user, and that would surely be reported to Itachi.

She smiled inwardly they thought she was fishy enough to make the Hyuuga curious; she wouldn't be caught that easily, and if Itachi wanted to catch her, another thing she wouldn't allow, he would have to try a lot harder than this.

-

-

She blended with the shadows in the darkness, where no color showed in the dead of night, she watched people slip out of the targeted room, she gripped her kunai in both hands jumping from shadow to shadow at the moment she was Kage, the shadow killer, a thing that all little children feared in the dead of the night. In Kage's eyes there was no discrimination between lives, whether you were a child, woman or man, innocent or not, if you had caught a glimpse of her you were killed in the dead of the night an imprint of the design of her mask imbedded in the inside of your forearm, so that all would know who you had been killed by.

The darkness faded to light and she became another person, she became Seirei a spirit, an ANBU specialized in ninjutsu never fighting with kunai or weapons of the like only ninjutsu, all of them fierce attacks that devastated the field, the ability to disappear and reappear with the utilization of genjutsu, rarely with the use of taijutsu. The ANBU ghost that haunted the borders of the Kuma village, her single calling card a planted flower in the middle of the destruction if disturbed would explode, due to the volatile chemicals that made up the silvery flower.

Her outfit melded into brighter colors, to emphasize eccentricity, she became ANBU operative Youkai, the ANBU specialist able to summon terrifying beasts, in which she had gotten her name. Only killing those she was assigned to kill, a professional operative, who only went within the parameters of the mission. Youkai, melded into Karyuudo, the heartless hunter of the sound felling her opponents with the high pitched sounds her flute would make bending her enemies to her will, making their ears bleed and brains burst from the force those sound waves created on the brain, the way she stalked her prey before attacking and the way she always remained on the trail earning her the title of master tracker which had earned her the name hunter.

The bells of her outfits turned into flappy articles of clothing with colorful specks at the end making her into Kagerou, famed for her speed that could be put on par with the yellow flash of Konoha in which was her inspiration for that personality. Kagerou the dragonfly of Konoha utilization of jerky movements to distract the opponent before delivering an untimely death, one insect name transform into another, into Hotaru. Hotaru who floated across the countries only at night with her white outfit that caught the eye of many but uncatchable but with graceful movements, always up for hire only used in the need to save a comrade from danger her greatest weapon the wind shields she made to protect her and attack others.

One grace turned to another making her Sawako the kind ANBU of Suna, a healer ANBU operative and has a way with puppets as if she were playing with dolls, perfect chakra control that could only be utilized for the best. Competence turned to insanity, into Watanuki the April fool the random killings that could only be the work of a madman with the uses of flashy and unnecessary movements to confuse the enemy her maniacal laughter that set the enemy off making them cower in fear. Then it all melded into mist, Enmu one of her youngest creations used for infiltration due to the almost presence less state Enmu constantly bore, and unbeknownst to everyone the ability to change shape and form. Mist turned to royalty, to Lady Haruno the Fire Lords right hand man admired and feared by all who came across her path, an unknown factor of politics, a woman surrounded by mysteries wanted by all, known by none other than the Fire Lord.

All of them made up the being that was her, that was 'Haruno, Sakura.' But at the same time none of them were her at all. She woke in a cold sweat, but neither panting nor afraid, of the dream that had transpired she knew what she was, and this wasn't the first time she had dreamed of such a thing. She glanced at the clock at the head of her bed, it was 9:00 am it had been three days since Itachi had graced her doorstep and had her shadowed by ANBU, within those three days she hadn't seen him. It unnerved her, she had to prepare because she knew this was merely the calm before the storm. Tiredly she pulled on her warm fuzzy pink robe, today she was going to see the person she had replaced the person by the name, 'Akari, Kaguya'.

She wanted to see the epicenter of Sasuke Uchiha's heart, and the kind friend of everyone, because once she did she would be able to see the bonds that bound them together. She picked up another report from her underlings with the Fire Lord and read over the report, despite the actions of the ANBU she was able to sneak out smoothly under the cover of the night as Enmu repetitively without the interference of the oldest Uchiha. He had probably thought that she would lay low for a while, and had let the ANBU guard themselves, which was a mistake. These ANBU were foolish, and easily bypassed, he should have known that even so she saw no trace of him for the last couple of days. The calm before the storm she knew it, but that didn't stop her from putting herself in the path of danger for her goal.

She had gathered evidence of Danzo's eventual betrayal; most of it speculation, but that didn't clear him of his previous crimes toward Konoha, most of her information had been found through her inside agents and her own findings and in a few days, it was all a matter of piecing together the puzzle when she had compiled enough solid evidence she would execute the betrayer, and get rid of all of his followers. By betraying Konoha, you betrayed the Fire lord endangering his position at the royal court.

It was a common rule in her world that you did not 'bite the hand that fed you' and that was exactly what Danzo was doing. The Fire Lord was the person who had given her everything, safety a home and a kind smile; it was enough for someone like her to receive. His kindness kept her in his employ, and due to that she would follow his orders through thick and thin. She looked through her closet to find a suitable outfit; she had a feeling that showing up in her nin clothes while showing up at the hospital might be considered inconsiderate.

She pawed throughout many of the brightly colored cloth that she would never wear, until she found a white civilian dress that would drape nicely over her figure, it was plain simple and conservative with a blue bow that tied right under the breast, tidy and professional a look she wanted to portray, carefully she took out the dress, taking it to the bathroom where she would get dressed.

~(Itachi)~

He knew that he would have to force this prey into an impossible situation to the point where she had no choice but to rely on her other abilities he knew she had them, it had been hard but his sharingan had picked up the true depth of her power. Needless to say that I was on par with his own, a frightening thought, but it only served to prove that she wasn't as innocent as she seemed. Her room had a plethora of things, from medical, to a finely woven Kimono any court lady would be frantic to have.

The only question that came to mind was, who was she? His curiosity was burning a hole in his head, he wanted to know, today though he might get that chance out of her way from the Konoha hospital to look at the member she had replaced on the team, Then he would catch her alone and then he would put a move into plan one look into his sharingan eyes and he would be able to see everything her past, and her current self. Itachi was sure that she wasn't what she portrayed, she had the same scent as him, a killer, and a loyal operative, the only question was, in which loyalties did she lie?

Itachi was one who wanted to find out, she was an interesting creature a being he couldn't completely grasp, although it frustrated him that he couldn't he found the relief that beat back the pain of an oncoming head ache to relieve him from the head ache that was constant boredom and lack of brain stimulation. From what he could see she was a good operative, one who excelled in infiltration she hada solid alibi for all of these past couple of nights, but he knew it was a trick, she was good at replicating herself but, like all creations it wasn't completely like the original.

Even so, her kage bunshin really were damn near perfect. The habits, and ticks, the depth of chakra that was stored in there. But, with her creations they missed that spark he felt when he was around her that sense of danger that had caught his attention originally. He knew though that she was the one he had been looking for, and as strange as it sounded he felt the need to know her more and find out all of her secrets to learn her everything. She was different from the rest of those empty headed women he was so used to seeing.

She was interesting, she could fight for herself and refused to play damsel in distress, best of all, she was by far the most fun to chase.

Uh oh Sakura he's on your tail… XD Yay! Next one up! This one's longer…. ^.^' I wonder if that's a bad thing? I feel like I'm rambling when I write that story so long…. Oh well…..

REVIEW! It's what keeps me floating!


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you my faithful readers for coming this far in my story! Thanks for the Favoriting and Story alerts, most of all thanks for the reviews!

Disclaimer: If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. I don't own anything!!!!

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Chapter 5

She stood at the foot of the girl's bed, holding the girls hand was Sasuke, and Naruto sat at a chair beside his friend. 'Akari, Kaguya' was nothing short of beautiful, long raven locks a cherubs face and delicate lashes, it was no wonder the younger Uchiha was head over heels in love with the girl. If Naruto hadn't been Sasukes friend Sakura was sure that he would have been smitten with the kunoichi as well. She said nothing, as there was nothing to say she would leave all the talking to Naruto and Sasuke, she didn't know the girl lying before her, and she had no right to speak. She left a bouquet of flowers deep blue hibiscus, in which the language of flowers meant 'delicate beauty'. The girl certainly was beautiful and her current state indicated her delicate state, an appropriate meaning; she had heard rumors about the girl but never a picture, since the girl moved too much to have a picture taken of her.

She sounded like someone who could keep up with Sasuke and Naruto easily. Impressive especially with someone with such striking and pretty looks then again who was she to talk? Who could miss the combination of pink hair and green eyes? She watched the two hover over their companion in worry, the beautiful girl never stirred, no matter how long they waited Sakura doubted she would ever wake up, too many parts of her brain was bruised if she was going to wake it would be a long time from now, which was in her favor, if Kaguya was awake Sakura would have but one other person to worry about, so for now she didn't mind the girl in a coma. Although she didn't know what would happen to the mental state of the younger Uchiha if she never woke up.

She paid her respects and left feeling the outsider knowing that it wasn't her place to stay with them as if she knew them their whole entire lives like the girl on the hospital bed did. It made her feel a bit envious, what they had, as the child of a noble you made alliances not friends, ready to discard something if it became no use to you anymore. As a child caste into the cruel world without a friend to rely on, you fought your way to the top you made no friends everyone was an enemy. As an ANBU you were always alone, in groups merely for convenience nothing more and nothing less. As Royalty in the Fire Lord's court, you made light conversation, and you commanded subordinates, friends were for those who had time, and she never had it, although there were the occasional friendly gestures between the working class, true friendship was a rarity.

Even for the Fire Lord, they were friends to a degree, as he was the only one who had seen her face among the nobles of the royal palace, only those who had seen her face could even resemble a friend. Even so that was limited to two or three people. They had taken measures to keep her concealed so she could keep doing undercover work, even in her ANBU corps only knew her as the lady behind the screen, a fan covering her lower face. All wished to know her face, yet none were allowed to know. It was how she had created her system it allowed her the most freedom she could get.

She felt a familiar chakra outside the hospital, how nice to get a visitor of her own; something to distract her, less than desirable thoughts she wanted to say hello, but that would be giving too much away wouldn't it? Anyway with the two looking over their friend it left her free, and a mind game was perfect for getting some decent form of entertainment, instead of the secluded solitude that was often a reoccurring pattern of her life. "We meet again kunoichi." He said coming up to her smoothly like a panther circling his prey. She gave him a cocky smirk, "So that was a promise. I thought you were joking." She snaked an arm through his as he shortened his stride to match hers.

"So? Where to? Surely you didn't bother me just to say hello. Or am I mistaken?" She looked up at him he was a full head taller than her and then a little, she saw a twinkle in his dark eyes flash then turn back into the plain disinterested black. "I've already made reservations, kunoichi you'll when you get there, I wanted to ask some questions. " She knew what Itachi was going to do and it made the game ever so more fun, "Hmm. A game of twenty questions huh? Well then 'shinobi', I had a couple of questions of my own." She shot him an award winning smile when he looked at her for calling him merely by 'shinobi' it looked like this was a first for their little black weasel.

She saw the makings of a smirk held back, a shame and he would have looked great with it on. Come to think of it she had never seen Sasuke smile, she wondered if it was a genetic thing or were the Uchiha really just that depressing and naturally stuffy? Then again she did find the Hyuuga clan a bit more overbearing, but just by a smidgen. She giggled to herself at the thought. He looked down at her curiously and she gave him a cool smile that didn't give anything away. She saw a spark of curiosity and burning intensity to crack the puzzle. Too bad for Itachi that she was one puzzle he would never crack, that is, without needing to spend years trying, and years wasn't the time she was willing to spend here, as nice as it was. The royal court was where she needed to be.

A pity too Uchiha Itachi was a very interesting man, even more fun to play mind games with especially since he was the type to keep up with her without batting an eye. He led her to a high class restaurant, remembering the long pending waiting list that this place had. She sighed one of the perks of being in the upper ring of society and free to walk the streets. A luxury she couldn't afford as the Fire Lord's advisor, she could protect herself just fine, but there were times when she didn't want to be constantly vigilant and on the lookout for her life, thus no one knew what 'Lady Haruno' looked like people only speculated.

Some said she was so pretty she could make birds fall from the sky some said she was so ugly that they kept her behind the curtain so as not to send one of the nobles into a coma due to shock. They were quite funny to listen to actually. She turned her attention to the exotic menu glancing over the ingredients in a process of elimination, she paused remembering that this was a high class restaurant not the palace, a normal shinobi would not know what any of this was especially if the menu was written all in traditional kanji, unless said nin had taken at least five years of calligraphy art something she didn't want to go through the motions of explaining.

She wanted to sigh, thinking about the roasted duck she would have to forgo, for now at least. "Have any suggestions? Shinobi?" He raised a brow then smirked, "Does that count as one of your questions? Kunoichi?" She mimicked his actions in the same arching eyebrow and haughty manner, only more exaggerated, "Haven't you ever heard of a freebie? Shinobi?" She watched as a quick smirk flashed across his face, she knew that he knew her character around Naruto and the rest were fake, so she might as well get him as close to her real personality as she could it could prove useful in the future. For what? She didn't know yet, but at the moment she was enjoying herself with their little play on words, and there she felt that she wished that this weren't simply just a mission.

~(Itachi)~

The innocent look was gone; good it unnerved him to know that she was acting in front of him while it worked for others he didn't appreciate being lumped together with people not on his thinking level. What had replaced it was a cooler and predatory gleam shared among the most elite shinobi, nice to know that she wasn't trying to trick him anymore; although it threw him how fast she had changed tactics.

It had blindsided him, and he had a feeling that she was playing with him, not that he minded he enjoyed games like this too; it beat playing shogi with a less-than-compliant Nara. "Nothing in life is free." She huffed at him, still a un-shinobi- like manner, which meant that she was still acting to a degree but at very least it was more bearable. "Cheapskate." He felt a smirk tug at the side of his mouth. Never had he met a woman who would easily converse with him like this without a slip of the tongue. Women like the kunoichi before him were truly a rare find. At least, a girl like the one before him was.

"Make your own choices, kunoichi," She huffed sigh her face completely straight, "Yeah, yeah, who cares if I regret it right? Not that I won't, the food here is always good I heard." She leafed through the menu a slight smile on her face; Itachi saw her eyes scan the menu as if searching for something. A trace of confusion in her brow, her human-like gestures keeping the atmosphere moving, something he himself did not indulge to do. Her delicate her darting back to her face to push back the bangs that got in her face. It looked habitual, bit from the perfect gesture added to it Itachi knew it had been practiced.

Even so she was good at it. Again she crossed her legs, it seemed to him that she was the type to create her character along the way in order to integrate and blend in with the society, like a chameleon in the wild the way every nin should strive to do, and with her strange looks, she improvises to make up for it, there was no changing her looks, but there was always a way to change her tactics, the way she times everything with precision, made Itachi wonder how long had she done all of those things in order to resist creating personal ticks.

She like him, was a blank page they wrote on to reform to societies ways, if it were up to Itachi he would work solo on everything, if it were up to him he would never attend an Uchiha clan meeting, nor would he allow the existence of ROOT. On que a waiter seemed to materialize into view "May I take your order?"

-

-

"So? What's your first question shinobi?" she asked him biting into a delectable serving of fried crab wrapped in lettuce. Wiping his mouth he began. "How many infiltration missions have you ever taken?" He asked, a relatively easy question to answer, "Hmmm. Would you be mad if me if I said I don't remember?" He saw her green eyes still bright and gleaming, he didn't know whether she was lying or telling the truth, an interesting experience. She dipped the lettuce wrapped delicacy in the provided sauce and took another bite. She had impeccable manners not a drop spilled and no spills, something that couldn't be accomplished without intense training, which indicated that in her life she had been a rich young lady.

"My, turn now isn't it? Alright, shinobi, how much does Konoha like the reign of the current Fire Lord?" The question threw him, but it made him notice another thing her speech was well formed, and although covered with the recent slang for things she spoke in a pleasantly low voice and steady speech patterns. She hid it well but Itachi noticed more complicated words occasionally slip out of her mouth her tone of voice matching the appropriate tone of the conversation. "We are loyal to the Fire Lord, as we are under his reign and his employ, why would that particular belief be questioned?"

She wiped her hands on the napkin stationed on her lap, her green eyes looking at him seeking the truth in direct eye contact something most people were not brave enough to do. "Just because you have the Land of Fire's emblem seated on your tower, doesn't mean you are dedicated to the Fire Lord." She said, a hint of truth showed in her eyes, she was showing that particular emotion, which indicated that she was trying to convey something. "Hn." He said considering, trying to make his way through her words trying to find the probability of truth they held. It felt as if one question about her had been answered and yet another popped up. It seemed that if she were that concerned about the Fire Lord with no malicious wording or gestures that meant that she wasn't an immediate threat to Konoha. If so, then why break into ROOT headquarters?

He would ponder it later, "How much do you know about the Village hidden in the mist?" he asked for his next question, knowing that the probability of her telling the truth to be incredibly slim, but he wasn't looking for words, he was looking reactions to words, as dead as an average shinobi's feelings were, there were certain land mines that still triggered a reaction, and it was that he was looking for. The body didn't lie, that's what he solidly believed, and she was no different to make her body lie would make her inhuman.

Her eyes said nothing but the way her left hand twitched for less than a millisecond and relaxed back into its place the next, did. "A little in my travels I have been there." He was getting the hang of her words, but by the way she looked at him with an assessing gaze veiled by mild curiosity indicated that she was getting to know him better too. To Itachi the girl was in every way, a wolf in sheep's clothing, an interesting concept seeing as it was usually the male gender that gets caste into this role. It was clear to see that this girl was a sly predator, and the world was merely her back yard. And it seemed that for the first time in his life, he was almost akin to the prey.

The way she hid her alternate self, letting it silently mock him from the shadows of that fluffy exterior she showed the world made him want to expose her. In that shadow she looked at him now, her innocent caste eyes no longer there, showing off her true prowess, he wondered how it could be utilized in the face of battle. He knew she thought about him, it was inevitable as someone on the other side of the fence, but he could tell that she didn't think much of him; in fact he wasn't sure she even considered him an equal. He knew her line of thought, the thoughts that clearly thought about his worth, she wanted proof of his competence. She wanted him to prove himself to her. He could feel the analyst in her looking at him from an outside angle trying to crack his puzzle just as he was trying to for her.

They both gave off the same smell. Both of them full of mystery and complications no one else could comprehend. He threw her, and she threw him, both of them were fighting to outdo one another wanting to see who was on top. Both were trying to catch the other. The only question for that remained. Who would be the one on top in the end? They stared at each other for a while assessing each other unashamedly, like two dogs circling each other in curiosity, gauging the others strength, "Your turn. Kunoichi." Her bright eyes glinted, "Whatever you say, shinobi."

~(Sakura)~

She had established that she wasn't an enemy, although she knew that he would still be curious about her actions from time to time, and although she knew he couldn't help but be suspicious at least he was going to back up for a bit, the now no-longer-there presence of her tracker ANBU was proof enough of that trust.

On a business aspect she had gotten one opinion about Konoha's loyalty she wondered if she should leak information into the gossip stream that gave Konoha a chance to prove itself to the Fire Lord and his followers. Her testimony wasn't enough as it was sometimes, and if it were just her opinion then she thought of the never ending list of the Fire Lords, enemies the underground syndicates, hidden shinobi organizations and contending nobles, she throw one of those missions Konoha's way as an ultimate test of loyalty? She would have to consider it later and collaborate with her underlings about it.

Either that or have Konoha renew their vows to the Fire Lord, either way it was Konoha's choice, and she had the feeling that they would accept, right now though the root of her problems were Danzo and his men. Although Itachi had retracted his ANBU forces, she knew that the nin at ROOT were beginning to catch wind about her. She knew soon that they would come and try and claim her life. It didn't matter whether she knew anything to them, only if she was a liability they would come to her. She had much to do. She would have to look for a safe house. She looked to the wall with the tatami mat, she knew that those would have to be moved somewhere safe, because her traps would kill anyone who tried to break in without her distinct chakra signature on them.

And the moment someone disappeared on their way to her house, was the moment that people got even more suspicious. She knew the moment those ROOT members went for her, her cover would be blown, even if it wasn't suspicion would surround her and smother her like being drowned in water. That sort of restriction would keep her from doing her job, and as a result she would get caught in the end. The moment they came knocking on their door, she had to be able to up and vacate. Which was soon, she would be able to continue with her plans the moment she got a hold of the list of all of Danzo's supporters, and the necessary evidence that pertained to it.

Her people were working on it now. She shifted her thoughts, giving her brain room to breathe, Itachi came to mind. Dark, brooding, incredibly sentient Itachi, what was she going to do with him? She knew that friendly relations were in order; it was more beneficial from one ANBU Commander to another. But it was something more than that. She was beginning to see the puzzles he formed for her just as the puzzle she served for him. Should she make a move? For the first time in her twenty three border-line hellish years of being alive she was at a loss of what to do.

She usually knew what she wanted and yet with him she wasn't sure what she wanted. Then again she had never found someone so hard and interesting to understand like herself. What to do. What to do. She began to juggle with two pebbles with one hand the motion helped her think. She stopped the motion, looking at the black stone that shone brightly even in the dim light of the moon of her little apartment bedroom window. The black stone reminded her of the glint she often saw in his eyes when he noted yet another something about him.

She put the stone to her lips, as she lie down in the softness and comfort of her bed, she closed her eyes feeling yet another headache begin to sneak up on her. What to do with Itachi, indeed.

Thanks for reading XD It's appreciated.

Oh! And for my anonymous reviewers I can't talk to here's your reply!

To Megami_Tsunami,

You got that right I'm on a roll, but don't expect too many updates this week I got a lot of homework . and all of the writing is making me dizzy. XD

Anyway, remember to PLEASE REVIEW! I write for a reason!

1)Cus, I'm bored.

2)Cus I don't want to do homework or socialize.

3) (and the most important reason of all!) I'm incredibly lonely and need someone to tell me my work it ok once in a while! XD….


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the support, reviews, alerts, and favoriting, you make this lonely person very happy!!! XD

Disclaimer: *sigh* do we really have to go through this again? *looks to the camera man who nods 'yes'*…*sigh, breath in*. I DON'T OWN NARUTO!! *looks to the camera man 'Ya happy now?' he nods 'yes'* on with the story then!

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Chapter 6

He carefully drew the line on the blue prints for his newest trap. It had become a sort of hobby to create such an elaborate toy. From the moment Itachi had tricked his father into a trap all of those years ago, Itachi had an affinity and love of making the tricky devices made to catch and detain. He did this whenever he was in deep thought, and his family knew never to bother him when he worked on these elaborate snares. And right now he had plenty to think about. All of it ran through his mind with every stroke of the pencil and every calculation of the traps workings work, his subordinates, the good of Konoha, and what was most important to his mind currently the puzzle that was Haruno Sakura.

He looked at the blue print calculating the physics property to it, to make sure that it would trigger at the right amount of chakra. He measured how long the person would fall before hitting the ground and what properties should he use to keep the nin there via genjutsu. He also had to consider the fact that the said shinobi had companions, he pondered it for a while, it either had to be a big enough trap to accommodate other people or the person in the genjutsu had to be blocked off from the others somehow. Very gently he opened his file cabinet of ideas, and the physics to their workings. Of course they were only parts of traps, but the times that he draws a blank for a project, often had him searching through those ' part' pieces that might fit the puzzle together.

He leaned back in his chair stretching his back as he looked through the files, it was stiff due to his prolonged time sitting and working over his new creation. No one knew of this little of his hobby outside of the immediate family of course, even then they didn't know much, and Itachi wasn't partial to parting with that information. It helped that they didn't ask. Back to the case pertaining Haruno Sakura, he drew yet another line to his creation, half noting the progress of his latest trap, and most of his attention or thoughts on the pink haired kunoichi.

After their little game of 'twenty questions' as she had so rightfully called it, they had a bit of wine then parted their own ways, with the information they swapped carefully interrogating them through softer means. They had given each other plenty to think about. Now that he looked back on it he wished he didn't part with so much information about himself, but upon further speculation if he hadn't she wouldn't have given him any information as well.

He didn't get to know her better per se, she didn't divulge any personal information of her true origins, that would have been a stupid mistake one he doubted she would make, but he did get a better idea of her motives. His instincts told him that she wasn't a threat to the Konoha village…yet. The way she had silently supported the Fire Lord indicated, that she wasn't an enemy and wouldn't be, unless some special circumstances were to come into play. It didn't divide his attentions of her any less though, an unexpected occurrence in fact it seemed that he was thinking a little bit more about the kunoichi, and then he usually thought of things, which didn't happen often especially if it was matters about people.

To him humans were simple, but if you looked closer that simplicity was made up of complexity just as the skin was made of small cells formed together, it was all simple and at the same time complicated, and the kunoichi had effectively gotten under his skin, which added to the puzzle and the need to solve it.

She didn't behave like a normal person or nin for that matter, she didn't have any visible ticks, and she was shrouded in mystery, so much so that he couldn't help but be curious. They both knew that she was Village hidden in the Mists', ANBU operative Enmu and yet she had loyalties to the Fire Lord. Unless she was trying to find out if Konoha resented the head of their nation, and he doubted that. The one moment she showed true emotion was when she mentioned him as if to convey a silent message; she wasn't an enemy if anything he believed her to be an ally. Which confused him even more, why would an ally spy on them? Why send someone like Haruno, Sakrua to do the job?

Pink hair and green eyes hardly made for a subtle spy, then again those looks were probably loud enough to cover up that possibility, she looked to loud a person to be a spy, contrary to the common belief that spies were supposed to blend in. Itachi stopped for a moment, wondering the last time he had analyzed someone so thoroughly like this. The answer…never, never had he thought of another person like to this magnitude; never had he ever had to divulge this deep, never had ever border-line obsessed with any one thing. It was problematic, he thought, resuming the arc he was about to draw, the pencil sliding across the paper easily with one motion of hand, sending him in another tangent of thought.

The way she looked, the way she acted, although it was a fake persona it intrigued him, he wondered what really lurked beneath the surface of that innocent façade. He thought of her, and then he thought of her hands, they had long pretty fingers to the point of aristocracy, they were small, but her hands were long fingered with pretty nails that most girls would envy. An aristocrats hands, as delicate as they looked though he had seen her snap a tree in half with a single swipe of that small fist. It was terrifying to most, but he found it somewhat charming. He knew he intrigued her, he had seen as much, that one time, her unguarded look that had her looking at him in interest and mixed feelings. They thought of each other as puzzles, like a box you had to open with tricks instead of a key. He felt the tip of his pencil break snapping him out of his thoughts, he had been obsessing again.

He looked out the window, to the light of the expanse office that was his work room. Right about now, team Kakashi would be meeting to go to the Hokage's office it seemed that they were going on a mission. He wondered how the kunoichi would handle it. A shame that he couldn't watch her handle an actual enemy, he could see now that she had just been toying with his brother upon further inspection of her, it was clear the way she fought to retained her chakra, and the fabricated sweat she produced to pretend that she was tired.

He rolled up the big sheet of paper, tying a rubber band around to secure its cylinder shape. He wanted to spend a little time cooling down before re submerging into the pressures of work and his thoughts, he stretched himself out listening to the popping of his spine, devising the plan for the rest of his day… and maybe he would bump into his mysterious little kunoichi, he was ready for the battle in their little mind game war, and this time he would bring home a victory.

~(Sakura)~

They waited at the bridge, for more then an hour. She had heard of the Copy nins infamous tardiness, and general laziness to complete a mission. Absently she wondered if he was going to take another hour, when they heard a distinct, it was the signal that he was there. "You're late!" exclaimed her blonde companion the black haired one sort of sulking in the corner, "Sorry! I got lost on the road to life and had to ask a wily cat for directions." "Liar!" Sakura smiled, it seemed like this was a little tradition of team seven if made her feel a bit left out, then again. "If you got lost Kakashi san you should have just asked the cat to escort you here, if not you should have Tsunade-sama hold your hand to get here. I'm sure that way you won't get lost and you'll be on time! Right? Naruto?"

For a moment the team looked stunned, she knew they hadn't been expecting a comment from her. Luckily for her Naruto was the first to recover, "Yeah! That way we wouldn't have to wait so long!" "Hn." She saw his lone eye narrow a bit, and then turn into a rainbow shape. It seemed that this was the first time someone had injected humor into the situation. It gave her another un-needed but fun fact about ' Akari, Kaguya' it seemed that she was rambunctious like the certain blonde who stood by her. "Shall we go?" she asked, chuckling softly at the scene. In reality she wanted to get to the meeting place with the client. Murasaki, Toushiro, he was a young noble in her organization of significant status, and one of the few who knew her face.

She was to escort him to his homelands in the northern part of the Fire Kingdom. In the duration that the group would travel together it would give them plenty of time for him to report to her the inner workings of the palace and the moves of the contending Bakufu and Shinsengumi. She needed to be kept updated for people of high power were often bored, and to fill that time, they caused trouble something that was often a pain to clean up the fact that the Fire Lord was leaning toward nin protectors rather than the traditional samurai didn't help either, another reason she was there to pertain if the Bakufu were on the move.

And if it were court gossip and information to find, Toushiro was her man. Not only that but it wouldn't look suspicious if she walked by the horse drawn carriage, and as a famous play boy it would give her the excuse that he wanted her to walk by him. The small group began to walk off the bridge toward the Konoha gates. She felt a familiar presence enter the atmosphere. She smirked to herself; it seemed that her favorite 'shinobi' was planning to bid her farewell. She would say it was a sweet gesture but knowing as much as she knew about Itachi Uchiha, he just wanted to see her face, when going into the midst of a battle either that or he was initiating one with her now.

She looked to the ground, counting her step and the seconds that went by until he would show up, "Nii-san." Said the younger Uchiha, the group had come to a halt, "Sasuke." She looked up slowly as if to prolong the effect, a few moments later she was staring into a pair of black eyes. She flashed him a predatory smile, then hid it under the folds of innocence once again. "Why are you here nii-san?" asked the younger in a dull and bored tone, but she could feel the inner anxiety the younger sibling felt for his brother, the competitive spirit that the younger had to surpass his brother.

"Just passing by," Sasuke nodded slowly, as if half comprehending. "Work shop." The older said feeding more information into the situation to clear up the group's confusion. Surprising, the man had a hobby other than being a workaholic, not that she could really say anything to that. She was a workaholic too, how else explain the willing submission into undercover work? She watched him turn to the leader of the team each nodding to each other in acknowledgement the verbalization of each other's names to clarify. Then he made eye contact with Naruto, they addressed each other in the same way, well Naruto tried, and did so rather awkwardly. She had to say it impressed her how he could stop a room with just his scary appearance and scary stories to back him up.

He cast himself as the community cyborg, she wondered if she could crack that façade. His eyes wandered to hers and they made contact. She met stare for stare, at that moment it didn't matter that her 'teammates' turn to look at her and him, in the silent standoff they were having neither choosing to look away. It was sort of a competitive game they had now, she noticed to see who could outdo the other, and she was the one who was going to win. "Kunoichi." He said to her, his voice ever the same monotone he liked to use.

It was a nice voice, a voice she could probably fall asleep to, one any girl would go crazy for, if only he had more variation in it. Then again it seemed that his looks made up for everything, even his anti social antics. Then again people only liked her for being the court mystery and those who got closer to her were only hoping to catch a glimpse of her face, no one saw the real her, maybe Ino at times, but no one else, it was a restricting life style, but survivable. Looking at him reminded her of herself, if she had the protection of her family he had, who would have kept her off the streets she wondered if she would have turned out like him as well?

Without a doubt she was sure that she would have. But perhaps that was the reason she was so attracted to him, he was something she might have been, and maybe she was something he might have been if the situations had been reversed. "Shinobi." She said to him back a slight inclination of the head used as a respective gesture she didn't really feel. As far as she was concerned they were equals, in every way.

The group looked at them in interest, Sasuke seemingly a bit shocked, Naruto as well, while she knew that Kakashi looked at them in mild interest. "Best of luck on your first mission here, kunoichi." Itachi said to her, his tone never changing, for some reason it made her grin. She began to walk into the direction of the gate, slowly and deliberately making her way toward him as well. Although the interaction was fun, she had other more pressing matters to attend to other then her entertainment. "Thanks, good luck to you too, Weasel-dear."

~(Itachi)~

Weasel... Did the girl really call him that? He scanned the others faces, shock colored them, Itachi thought they looked a bit like fish out of water, even the ever so smooth Kakashi had the showings of his jaw dropping. She had gotten him there. He felt a twitch in his left eye, not a normal occurrence. "Hey! Are you guys going to stand there all day? I'm pretty sure we're going to be late as it is!" the girl called. The three jolted into reality, and then began to run in her direction a single nod in acknowledgement in his direction.

He turned to look at the Konoha gates. He felt the biting spike of defeat dig deeply into his chest. She got him. Pure and simple, she had blindsided him and pushed him off a ledge he didn't expect to go. She was good, he felt the small feeling of defeat persistently mock him, it made him uncharacteristically irritated, and with that irritation he turned, he needed something to do. He thought vaguely of the training field and how tempting it would be to throw kunai at it in his slight frustration.

He stopped himself and rubbed in between his eyes, then opened them to see the green grass reflect back up at him with the suns help. It wasn't the color of her eyes, but it was close enough, it seemed that even nature was mocking him on her behalf. He covered his face with his hand trying to calm himself, surprised to find that he was amused even more than before. The girl had actually surprised him, had he been underestimating her a little? It seemed that he had, and she had put him soundly in his place. The price of being cocky he supposed.

He chuckled to himself a breeze began to pick up ruffling his hair in a playful manner, a weasel huh? He covered his smile with a gloved hand, hiding it from the view of the world. If it was a weasel she wanted a weasel she would get. He looked down at the grass, still mocking him; he hoped that nature would convey to her, that the next time she set foot in the village she better prepare herself. He then turned in favor of the Hokage's tower his features smoothed over with indifference. It was time for work, and he didn't want to be late.

~(Sakura)~

They waited near the meeting place, in a small dango shop, where the lord would meet them, it seemed that he was running a little more than late, his personal nin, and her close associate had sent them a letter saying that they would be an hour or so later. She supposed she had set the pace a little too, fast but at least they would get some rest before they had to escort him, and it would give her a little time to clear her mind and set herself into the mindset of her 'Lady Haruno' self, she needed to get used to turning it off and on in front of people something she would have to work on.

She sipped at her tea, looking up at the sky from under the shaded tree they were under, "Ne Sakura chan." "Yeah?" she asked the blonde who was fidgeting nervously; she had a feeling he was going to ask about Itachi. "Do you… Are you…Wh-" Sasuke sighed in annoyance, "He means to ask, what was with the strange interaction with my brother earlier." She looked into her quickly emptying cup; it seemed the younger was also burning with curiosity, not that she couldn't feel it from a mile away. She felt Kakashi shift on his branch; she knew he was listening on the conversation as well.

"What do you mean?" she asked, playing dumb, she wouldn't answer a question unless fully stated, she had made that mistake years ago when she was much younger and the question had been about something much different, and she would be damned if he made the same mistake again. Part of it was that, and part of it was the fun in watching them struggle for a bit. "What we mean Sakura-chan is. No one calls Itachi weasel, and has lived to tell the tale." Naruto said with finality finally locating his voice it seemed curiosity won over embarrassment a true ninja trait. She doubted, that Itachi would kill just because someone called him weasel, such a stupid reason to kill, she was sure that people were just afraid to call him that. "So, how come you did?"

She sniffed and put down the cup, taking a dango cup, taking a bite, and then chewed as if to give herself a moment. "Hm? Oh that, we were messing with each other that's all. Plus he's not such a bad guy to get along with ya know?" Stunned silence met her words, she had the truth what more did they want? Plus is it so hard to believe that Itachi could play with people? It seemed to her that he did a lot, at least the way he loved to play with her was apparent, and she had merely been returning the favor. Then again as the village cyborg it wasn't all that surprising.

"Sakura-chan when did you have time to meet Itachi?" She ate the rest of her dango at his words, as she saw Toushiro's carriage pull up. She got up to brush her outfit off, and adjusted her hair to make sure that its waist length stayed flat at her sides, when approaching a noble you always dressed or presented yourself appropriately, and even now she was true to that policy. "I believe that's our client." She told them brushing off Naruto's question as the sounds of a horse neighing pierced the air. Out of the carriage, their lording stepped, in all of his proud 6"4' wonder, he was dressed in casual wear that gave off the sheen of an upper class citizen.

Their eyes met in contact for a moment before she gave him her usual fake smile, "You must be, Murasaki, Toushiro I presume?" He nodded in return taking her hand in an overly familiar handshake. Always the play boy she could see, even when she wasn't dolled up for court. "I see my reputation precedes me you are correct, and who might you be?" "Haruno, Sakura. I and my companions will escort you to your home flat as promised." He nodded, "I look forward to it." Sakura dropped his hand not holding it for longer than necessary, the twinkle and slight anxiety in his eyes that only she could detect looked back at her. He had news, and something told her that things weren't going to well in the imperial court.

As one of my reviewers requested SHE CALLED HIM WEASEL!!! XD

Thanks for reading this chapter…

To those who were on anonymous reviews---

To angel897, I will try to update as soon as I can without producing any crappy work! Course that is if I can fit it in with my homework etc. its fun to write but my homework is more important (unfortunately). XD

To Anonymous, I will try! XD


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for reviewing, alerting, and favoriting this story!!!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!!

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Chapter 7

She looked at the tea then sighed as if shedding off the persona that was just the average nin. Her spine straightened her shoulders back her eyes narrowed in shrewdness, into the courtesan that she was, into Lady, Haruno. She turned that royal bearing on Murasaki her subordinate, and friend, "Report." She told him the obvious command in her voice. She had nothing to worry about right now. She was in his personal tent for the night as his escort while Naruto scouted the north, Sasuke the south while Kakashi was busy securing traps.

He snapped to attention and inclined his head respectively at the table as an apology that his head was higher than hers even though they were of different class, and social standing. "Yes! The high nobles are getting restless, they plan to take the power from the Fire Lord and establish him as a puppet ruler," She tapped the cup, processing that in itself was bad news, "Explain." "Yes! The shogun of the area and the Bakufu are getting restless, they believe that the favoritism the Lord has toward nin is untrustworthy, it seems that they are planning to turn to the Akatsuki for some help of the takeover. Not only that but while you have been gone the oppressors who are against you, are revolting and demand that you be married to assure your loyalty to the nation,"

It was understandable and she should have seen it coming, she was already 23 marriageable age, and the thought that they sought to control her through that angered her enough. She gripped the cup with intensity, her anger getting the better of her. "What the hell has happened in the time I've been gone Murasaki! What the hell have you been doing?!" It had only been, not even a month since this project had been initiated, how did the people against her gain so much ground? He looked her straight in the eye his deep maroon eyes met hers unwavering. "The Lord plans to marry Lady Haruno, everyone believes it is time for him to bear sons and train his heirs."

She set down the cup a little too hard making the tea slosh around, her greatest fears for the nation were coming true, "To whom?" she said her voice soft, hoping that he wouldn't say what she feared most, "Lady Kumu, my lady," she sucked in a breath, damn. She thought of that black haired girl, pretty enough severely lacking in the brains department, spoiled, selfish, petty to boot. It was the girl who dared to question her word, if that girl was at the helm of the country the land of Fire was doomed. "What about Lady Sururi?"She watched him, he didn't flinch under her oppressive gaze like most did, but she saw him pale, "Lady Sururi is…" Dead, the word left unspoken.

No wonder, they had gained power so fast with Sururi out of the picture, she was the last defense, and one of Sakura's few friends. Sakura wanted to curse, she should have had a whole lot more security set on the girl, the sweet heart of the Fire Lord, and wise girl of the nation, no wonder his lordship had his guard down. And it seemed that Lady Kumu the tricky little witch played consolidate to the Lord, and while she was away buttered up to him, the Lord being the push over he was to women folded like paper when the council proposed the marriage.

But, that wasn't enough to control him, they needed to get to her, and tie her down as well. With her tied down to a husband, if her husband wished for her not to come to court, she would be forced to stay in her quarters, regardless, she knew she could kill any guard who tried to get in her way, but that would only caste an unfavorable light on her. She was a diplomat, not a cold hearted killer, although admittedly she wanted to be sometimes in royal court, but right now that was beside the point. They were planning to get rid of him once he married Kumu, when the marriage was consummated she would be the Lordess and all of the Fire Land, with her husband dead, she would rule and be controlled by the court, then married off to Suryukai the opposing force to Sakura and her iron fist ruling to the Fire Lords actions.

She rubbed her temples, it was an elaborate plan, but it was damn well enough to work, when she had her back turned. If only she had stayed to assess the situation further. But right now was not the time to dwell on 'what if's' she knew she had to work fast. And it had to be immediate, it was times like these that she wished she had a partner in crime.

First things first, she had to get the attention off the young lord of 25. How? They needed a distraction, a scandal, something big. Dread dropped in her stomach like a rock; she knew what had to be done. It would mean exposing her for who she really was. It meant having to deal with them face to face instead of behind a tatami screen, it meant that she would be tied down even more then she already had been. Even if she were to kill Kumu it wouldn't change a thing, there were many girls in court like her, and Sakura knew that it had to be cut off at the head. She rubbed her temples, she felt herself fill with regret, her thoughts lightly drifting to the interest she left in Konoha, she still had many things to do, and she was sure that this load might break her.

She put her hands on the table as she thoughts in thought, she still had to kill Danzo, she had to attain the loyalty of Konoha, and then she had to go to court and fight them all off, all alone, she knew her subordinates couldn't help her, they never could they only served as messengers. She tried to find an escape to the situation but knew it was useless. It had to happen sometime this hard confrontation. She felt her world begin to crash down on her, she didn't have enough power to do all of these things at once, even she needed to rest sometime.

She felt her hands cool as Toushiro slid his hands on hers; she opened her eyes, fearing the next thing that would come out of his mouth. Her green met his, maroon burned, his handsome face leaning closer then what was appropriate. "Lady Haruno, no, Sakura please marry me." He had said it, and she knew why he had said it. As good as a political friend he was, he was no different from any other man, he wanted her to posses her tie her down she could see as much in his eyes. "I guarantee that you'll be happy, I'll take you from the reign of politics and you can live in peace for the rest of your days, you won't have to fight alone." She looked into his earnest eyes; she knew that she would be content with him, never happy.

Toushiro was sly but he didn't give her the mental stimulation that she needed, that she wanted. She slid her hand from his she had seen this coming a long time ago, the moment he saw her face for the first time she knew and had devised a rejection. It didn't make it any easier to deliver it. "You already know my answer, Murasaki." She said her voice absolute; it didn't stop him from his persistence. "Why?! I know I can make you happy! I-." She put a hand to his cheek, silencing him. "I know you can Murasaki. You'd put a shelter over my head and protect me the best you could from the other noble's opinions, but you don't have what I need." He was about to rebuke that statement until she shushed him into listening her to her words.

"Yes, you are nobility and in a higher class, but, that's not what I'm talking about, I don't want a life where I don't do anything, I want a life of freedom, and I know that you won't be able to give it to me. The world I live in is different from yours even though you sit here before me, you can't comprehend the forces I go up against. And. If I were to marry you, it would put you in grave danger. You don't have the resources to protect any child borne from me, your clan is that of artisans, and I am a child destined for war. You cannot follow me where I am destined to go." She paused taking a breath, and she calmed, she was beginning to feel the weight of what had to be done.

"There will come a time where all the forces who wish me to go down will attack at once, the Akatsuki is one of them and in that moment can you save me? Murasaki? Can you help me with this burden of being the Fire Lords advisor? Your life will constantly be targeted and sooner or later you'll die. Where would I end up then? Do not say rash words, when you don't mean them Toushiro, think carefully then act, that is the mind of a true tactician, and you know it."

He wouldn't be able to take in the fact of her multiple selves, he wouldn't be able to protect himself against the Akatsuki, or the Bakufu, and he was merely going with the moment like most hot blooded men did. She watched his eyes get beaten back down into submission; he leaned back into his place. "Then what will you do my Lady?" she looked down to her hands, if it was keeping the Fire Lord safe she knew what to do. As for getting a married… An image of Itachi flashed through her mind, she didn't even want to consider it, their relationship was too premature to think of such things. She looked to Toushiro his face passive from the rejection. "I will think of something." She said withdrawing her hand, "When will our Fire Lord marry?"

Toushiro looked down sighing out of resignation, a sign of him shaking off his worries, a good thing. "Probably thirteen cycles of the moon my lady." They are waiting for a prosperous day to marry according to the star readers." She nodded understanding; she had less than a year to get all of her objectives done before it was too late. She felt an even heavier burden add to her plate. So much to do so little time, and the risks and stakes get heavier and heavier, the finality and seriousness of the situation setting in. at the back of her mind she wondered how much more of this could she take?

~(Itachi)~

He stood outside the girls apartment, she was coming back in a day, he had once again known everything he could about her and found that it simply wasn't enough, so he decided to get where surprise was most unexpected, the safety of her own home. He landed on the small walkway in front of the door. He knew there would be traps; vaguely he wondered how efficient they were. He activated his sharingan to see something completely different.

What he saw were, motion ready kunai and senbon, ready to impale any intruder, and genjutsu's that were poised to stun or kill the enemy. Not only that but it was activated by chakra, he ran a hand over the door way, looking at the delicate mechanisms set up. What exactly did she have to hide? She let people into her apartment that much he knew. Even so traps like these were overkill. He put a hand to the door knob and saw the chakra shift to pinpoint where he was. Interesting, this trap was on part with his most elaborate. Interesting. He was dealing with a mind much on paar with his own and he knew it, knew it well. He held the door knob in anticipation, ready to yank it open after he had unlocked the series of locks.

He readied a substitution jutsu for himself, and flung open the door,

~(Sakura)~

She stepped along the carriage, in agitation, and even though she tried to reign it all in, she couldn't, her hands occasionally shook, and she mumbled to herself, trying to verbalize plans. Trying to frantically iron out a situation where she had to do everything herself. Her restlessness however could not be ignored any further. It was apparent when Kakashi pulled her over to their fire to ask her what was wrong.

"Whar's wrong Sakura san? You've been acting strange, for a while." She looked to them wondering if she could trust them with those secrets, after a moment of contemplation she decided that now was not the moment. They had accepted her as a teammate and friend but she wasn't how much she could push that bond. Sighing she shook her head, "It's nothing Kakashi-san I've just been thinking about things a little too much lately."

She felt that lone dark eye bore into her, on either side of her Sasuke and Naruto eyed her with the same expression. "I've heard that you know our client on a more…personal manner. Are you worried about that?" She watched Naruto flush and Sasuke slightly choke on his tea. Was Kakashi implying that she slept with Murasaki? Did it look that way? She thought what would provoke that sort of scenario, had someone over heard the marriage proposal? Had it been the prolonged time they were spending together? The worried glances she knew that Toushiro shot her when she was deep in thought?

It could have been any of them. Crossing her legs and sipping her tea she brushed the notion off. "You have nothing to worry about Kakashi-san, me and Murasaki-sama have nothing between us in that sort of manner. I've just been thinking of some… Reoccurring haunts of the past lately, it seems that he had triggered a couple of those memories." Just then all of those thoughts seemed to attack her giving her the most wonderful headache. She felt a shift of chakra beside her. Sasuke had his sharingan activated, it seems that the two brothers were starting to catch onto her, she glanced at Kakashi the same look on her.

She wondered if it was a sharingan thing. Or was it natural instinct that they started to suspect her? Either way she wasn't going to give up with even a semblance of a fight. She sighed, readying to tell a lie, but a story at the same time. "There was once a girl, I knew, she was also a noble, but her house had fallen and she was caste into the cruel world of survival and became a shinobi like us. Before she knew it she became a cold blooded killer. Somewhere along the way I met her on a mission for Murasaki. She really was a sad girl, imagine I think she was only twelve when she had to start fending people off. Over time we became a sort of semblance of friends.

"As a person she didn't know how to trust, it's to be expected though right? People ostracized her, and she held a lot of spite for the world. The last time I saw her was when she was battling a battalion of people by herself as they fought to drive each other off a steep cliff side. Somewhere along the lines she became friends with Murasaki to. I'm not sure when, at the time she was only around fifteen. But she went off the cliff fighting taking ten or so people with her. I wonder if she's still alive, because we were never able to recover a body."

It was a story of her, as a child, but she would never tell them that. At the same time it was close enough to the truth that it didn't set off any sharingan sensors. "I wonder if I could have done something to save her from that personal hell. Or if she would continue to live that way." She saw the flicker of sympathy in their eyes, she was wearing them down. "I'm sure Murasaki thought that too. He said he would have tried to keep her in his permanent employ to keep her safe since her was just a family of artisans. So I guess every time we get together I wonder those things, and think that maybe I should try and look for her."

"What was her name?" asked Naruto his voice filled with an apology. She gave them a wry smile, "Sakura," she wanted to tell them about her, but knew it would be unwise, she didn't want to involve them in anything they would regret and she would keep it that way. They looked at her with shocked eyes, she knew that the name applied to her, but she knew how to correct that little lapse in judgment. "I guess that's why I was attracted to her. She held the same name as me, and I saw the differences between me and her. I guess that's also why Murasaki-sama also pays a lot of attention to me as well."

She set down her emptied cup, and got up dusting away the imagined up dust, before turning back to where Murasaki should have been, "So you don't really have to worry. If I'm acting weird that's the reason for it, and nothing more, there is nothing you should worry about. This isn't enough to obstruct a mission, at least for me." She walked to Murasaki's fire, and settled herself on an overhanging tree to watch him, while contemplating her own thoughts. She was going in circles. And she, for once in her life didn't know what to do.

~(Itachi)~

He stood among the rubble; it had been trap after trap, even more they were set up silently to take down the enemy without a sound, due to that even with the sharingan he hadn't been completely sure whether he would have gotten out of it alive. Whatever this girl was hiding it had to be important. Why else make traps that could kill and main while getting rid of any sort of evidence at the same time? He wondered how many other people had fallen for this trap, Itachi was relieved he didn't ask any of his subordinates to snoop in this house. Who knows what sort of demise they would have met.

He checked the area with his sharingan everything was clear. He walked into the apartment, her scent and chakra signature, granted a few days old, was still there. He looked at her things; they were things of every kind. But what had caught his attention was one wall in her apartment. A brilliantly made kimono, put on a stand, one as fine as the highest court lady. Many people would envy her for having it, which is why those of the Uchiha house often bought such things to keep them as the high society of Konoha.

Itachi then noticed the folding door behind it, the hills and flowers artfully colored on it, as if to distract anyone. Itachi knew it was a perfect way to keep anyone from looking further, which drew him to wonder what was behind the tatami mat stationed behind those two things. He carefully tore downt the straw structure. For once in his lifetime, he felt his breath leave him on its own. Nine masks, of nine nin, all of those who are wanted by many. All of them in one place, at one time, own by Itachi knew as one person. He glanced then to the kimono, remembering the maker of it, had been commissioned specifically for that special piece, a couple of years back, when Itachi was picking up such a kimono for his mother.

Who could mistake, the golden phoenixes, and the silver clouds sewn upon the maroon surface, it was said to be, the company's greatest work, and this girl had it. Who would have know that the Haruno, Sakura, he had stumbled upon was the famed, Lady Haruno. Not only that, but the true identity of the nine ANBU forces no one seemed to know. It seemed that he had truly stumbled on a diamond in the rough. A true puzzle box, although this solved many questions about her, many and more popped up in their place. Why was Lady Haruno, advisor the Fire Lords council here? Why was she sneaking around ROOT? Most importantly, what to do with her?

He took a paper, and wrote to the Hokage, that he would not be at work tomorrow. No tomorrow he was going to confront the girl, about her situation. He turned to the rubble at the door and preceded to picking up, he wouldn't want the neighbors to report to any nin in the area. He noted the door closed itself, as if nothing had happened. She had kept this place a secret for a reason and he was going to find out why. He paused a slight smile alighted on his features despite the severity of the situation. He wasn't kidding when he would get the girl for calling him weasel. A weasel she had called him, and a weasel he had become, he thought of the masks and kimono, and it seemed he had found something particularly shiny to snatch.

She was full of mysteries and he wondered how much more fun she could provide him. And he wondered how much time he would need to dominate to find it all out. He continued to clean up the mess, what to do with her? She was a court lady obviously on of high status and rank. For once he seemed to be at a loss for words, he couldn't arrest her, because she hadn't done anything wrong, the masks merely said they were masks he had found no blood on them, she would say they were imitations, but Itachi knew that they weren't. He smirked, what a confusing girl. He smelled her scent a mix between shampoo and the forest, her chakra slightly whirling around her things. He went to the cupboard helping himself to a cup of tea while grabbing one of her many books off a shelf, a book he was sure she had read many times, due to the chakra infusion it had of her.

He felt himself drawn even more to her, and he for some reason he was compelled, in many ways, to posses her.

Ok, I know you're thinking that at the moment his mind is incredibly twisted…. When writing this I was sure of it too….

Hahahaha. Yeah… Sorry for the late update. I somehow got sick, and have been out for like, fifteen hours straight from sleeping, and everyone knows you can't write when your brain is full of cotton balls!!

Thanks for reading and Review!!!

… Speaking of reviewers… to the anonymous reviewers since I can't contact you any other way XD

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To: Anonymous  
All will be answered soon ^.^

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To: Megami_Tsunami  
Lol who doesn't love mind games? It's all part of life if you ask me ^.^  
Yeah WEASEL!!! Lol you gotta give qawashere kudos for that idea!

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To: Wow  
Glad you like it! Although I have to beg to differ, I don't think I'll ever be able to get up there with 'Way of the Wind' *sigh* me and my self esteem issues XD (not really). I'm just glad people like my work, and trust me my literary genius didn't always use to be this way I look back on some of my earlier work and shudder… It was so bad I almost died reading it again XD


	8. Chapter 8

Thankies for the review, alerts and favoriting! The attention makes me happy! ^.^

Disclaimer: I don't own it!

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Chapter 8

She began to open the door to her apartment, drained; the never ending barrage of questions from her team about the other 'Sakura' let her know that they suspected something they just didn't know what. She paused, sensing wrongness from the inside of her apartment. The usual resistance her lock usually put up when she injected her chakra was t there, and it wasn't until she observed closely that someone was in her house, she couldn't determine who due to the chakra wards she put up to obscure her clones chakra to make it seem as if it were her.

Quietly she dropped the pack, and took out a kunai ready to spring if the person inside went hostile. But if it was one thing she did know, was that she was screwed. She let the door open by itself, the smell of fresh tea wafting in the air and she wondered…Would someone who broke into others houses really do that? She had to wonder at her intruder's sanity… Then again she had done crazier things as ANBU operative Watanuki the April fool, so in a way this wouldn't be too crazy… at least that's what she thought, "Welcome home, kunoichi." An unmistakable voice said through the door. Sakura sighed to herself hitting the back of her head against the metal framing once; the jig was up. Sheathing her kunai she walked in noting the cleanliness of the floor and lack of blood that should have had the intruder long dead by now.

It was then that she saw flash of red in his eyes before turning black and looking down at the book in his hand. Damn Uchiha's and they're freaky red sharingan, she was sure that, that particular feature was the only reason why he wasn't made into ribbons across her floor. How else would it explain his relaxed and smug manner across one of her cozy chairs while reading a book? One of her favorite books no doubt. "I wasn't aware that breaking and entering was a form of nin affection Weasel dear." He took a sip of tea then put the book down in his lap snuggling deeper into her favorite cozy chair, if you could describe any of his actions snuggly.

"Welcome home Ma-Cherie." He said, she noted that he deliberately avoided her question, so that meant that it was his form of affection, what a problematic person she got herself involved with. "How was your mission?" Sakura froze his words catching up to her; did he just call her 'my sweetheart' in French? She could feel her jaw want to drop. She narrowed her eyes, he was adapting, "Wonderful, Weasel-dear what's for dinner?" she asked playing along, she watched satisfied as an eye slightly twitch at the new pet name. She flashed a glance at her wall, the kimono was a cm away from where it used to be and the tatami mat was slightly crooked, he knew. Wonderful, one problem after another, but at least he knew and that would make him a possible ally, something she could use right about now.

She took a breath in and smiled at him, in court when faced with a problem she smiled, it was the most diplomatically correct way to divert a situation, although there was no one to see it. Smiling was the best way, and smile she did. "I was hoping we could go out to eat, Ma-Cherie or did you have something… important to talk about?" He gave her a twinkling smile in return the very picture of politeness-a great substitution for innocence, a role she was sure he could never play- she knew behind that smile lived a monster ready to eat her alive. At times like this obliviousness was bliss, but Sakura knew it was always better to know the cold reality.

"There's always something important to talk about, my dear Weasel boy." She approached him cautiously before taking the book off his lap, and replacing its place. She shifted to make herself comfortable, on his rock hard muscles "It's just a matter of whether you have the right answers or not."

~(Itachi)~  
He couldn't agree more as he moved to place his arms around her slender waist. They were both placing each other's lives in the others hands. He held her waist and she was within close proximity to his neck, and he her torso. She had medical jutsu he knew she could use, and he had cold efficiency they were at a cross road of sorts, and it was enough to make the heart pound.

"Shall we get down to business then Ma-Cherie?" he taunted, crossing his legs to position her a little higher, he knew it would give her a little advantage, but the only way he was going to get her to talk was if she felt like she had some sort of handicap. Not only that, he was sure she wouldn't kill him, those eyes of her said much differently. No her eyes held almost a silent question maybe even a plead. "Of course, one of equal exchange, and more…my secrets, for important information pertaining the safety of your village." Itachi felt his attention sharpen as he looked into those normally soft green eyes; turn to the equivalence of veteran ANBU captain, the quickness of the transformation amazed him all the more.

As amusing as that was though, her words were more important, "Tell me all you know," he asked with a tone to accent the seriousness of the situation "Only if you promise to listen to me until the end." She told him gravely. It drew his attention, the tone she used. He nodded, unable to do anything else, "I am Lady Haruno, agent of the Fire Lord on his executive council." She told him slowly, as if she didn't know where to start. He nodded urging her on. "At the same time I am the ANBU masks you see on the wall. I was sent here by the Fire Lord to check out the loyalty of Konoha, as well as check out the status of the famed 'Danzo' that has been the epicenter of my ANBU operatives research, on the origins of the nin conflict.

"I was asked to research him and if I found any threatening proof I would immediately eliminate him, which is why you found me as Enmu in the ROOT archives. So far my research on Konoha has been solid so far, but not completely thorough, you understand I trust?" He nodded, sensing a question that was coming up, "I… would like your help something else has come up. It pertains partially to the Akatsuki and the standing of your village and I would like your cooperation this is one thing I'm not sure I can take it on alone." The question was clear, but Itachi never went into anything that he wasn't aware of, but even so he felt that he would get pulled in regardless.

She sighed, her breath brushing his face like silky fingers, "The Fire Lord's life is in danger." He felt the gravity of the situation in her words, "He's no nin, Itachi he cannot protect himself, and his enemies are beginning to move due to my prolonged absence. I was informed that the first concubine Lady Sururi has died, and Lady Kumu has taken her place. She is backed by the Bakufu and the Shinsengumi who do not approve of a hidden village in the Fire Lands. They in turn have turned to the Akatsuki, and I the Fire Lords, head advisor find myself in a compromising position, I know by now the court will mostly be against me, and I am informed that I will need to locate a husband.

"I can't be tied down just yet. The Fire Lord… no the country would benefit better if I were free from the cage any of those nobles would put me in…" Her green met his black in total contact her eyes hiding a hidden plea, she had pride and she didn't lower it for anyone, but here she was lowering it for his help. He knew she was confident in her abilities, and knew how to gauge them. And she knew her limits. It was a hard decision but no matter how he twisted it, it was inevitable.

It was for the good of Konoha, but most of all, she was asking for him to know her better, and most of all despite being a nin, she was asking for his help, and in return she trusted to him. That in itself was a prize. A prize he couldn't give up. She was a puzzle and her constant movements exhilarated him, he took a strand of hair between his fingers, and kissed it. "Don't worry Ma-Cherie, you'll have my backing all the way." In his arms he felt her relax and she dropped her hand from playing with his hair while he remained with his arms around her torso, the seriousness turned to relief, a twinkle in her eye indicated that she was back to normal.

"Well, then Weasel-dear, shall we go get some dinner?" Itachi, liked the liveliness that went in her eyes, and it was that that he knew he was seeing one of the few moments where she was just being her.

~(Sakura)~

She didn't know exactly was racing through her mind when she had asked Uchiha Itachi for help, whether the stress had gotten to her of the pumping adrenaline from being each others' arms was the cause, all that she knew was that she was glad that she did. Pure and simple, there was no dispute. What a great ally she had won to her side, a power she knew would be the turning point of this whole cracked up mess fate had so carelessly thrown in her lap.

Even now, she knew he was formulating ideas, tomorrow she would give him her reports in full detail and they would launch their path of strategy from there. Of course they would bring the Hokage into this, it was after all her village, but she had someone to validate her point, and help her keep a secret, something she wanted to keep until the very last moment. The unveiling of her true self in court was inevitable that much she knew but she didn't intend to hurry that particular course of action. Without that veil to hide her she knew that she would never be able to walk across the street without someone recognizing her. The notion saddened her.

Sacrifice one for the many right? Noblesse Oblige, it was her duty to help others, that particular saying had never left her in her many years of wandering without her parents, there were times where she had ignored it, times that she conveniently forgot it, but now it was there to stay. She was a noble, and that would never change, raised to help her people. Although she had been commissioned to kill many she had researched their cause and effect on the peoples and whether their actions deserved death and it was that saying in which Sawako the ANBU mednin specialist was borne. All for the purpose of helping those in need, she gave out a laugh, maybe it was to atone for all the lives she did take, all of those families she had devastated in her wake, in her early and late teens the burning hatred she had for people.

Then she wasn't so kind, then she didn't give that much thought to whom she killed it was then that she created Kage, one who killed without discrimination, the one who brought upon massacres. At that time she had been angry at the world for throwing her there in that hell; angry at the people who were happy while she had to suffer the consequences of those who sought to take down her house. It was even in that time she had brought down her parents betrayers killing off the families in the worst way possible. One would have thought she was a monster in that ANBU suit, but when she woke from that dream, when her reason came back and she had looked at what she had done and the hundreds she had killed in her revenge she had cracked.

Thus giving birth to Watanuki, then she had been desperate to die, so she created a person who did too many unnecessary movements that begged for them to kill her, and even then she didn't die. She didn't remember the exact order in which these parts of her were borne, at the time it had been to hectic to count, but she did know the reasons, each of them made to protect her mental state in one way shape or form. Now that she thought about it, they had all been stages of her life, and now that she reflected, she found they each occupied a section in her heart. All of them made up her. At the same time they weren't. Funny she had never really taken the time to digest this all and think about it, it seemed that Itachi got more gears turning in her head she had thought possible.

Which made her love him all the more; it seemed she had liked him all along, even when she had considered him a threat. She hugged a pillow in the dark pressing it to her face feeling red embarrassment make their way to her cheeks. Oh god, it seemed she was getting to be no better than those twittery little girls in the palace who only though of love. Then again, what they desired was the man's assets not the actual man himself. Even Lady Sururi as much as she loved the Fire Lord couldn't also help but think about the country she would own and the people who would bow down to her.

But unlike the other ladies Sururi actually had a brain in which to rule. The Fire Lords loved Sururi and she had enough status to marry him, too bad she died, they would have made a perfect match and then Sakura wouldn't have to worry as much and work on her ANBU headquarters. She thought of Itachi and his puzzle like mind, that alone would have drawn her to him, but he was also head of an ANBU cooperation and noble in himself. She sighed, she didn't like that she was obsessing over him. Even so she felt she couldn't help it. Frustrated she rolled out of bed, maybe reading reports would let her mind cool down. Take her off subject, she didn't know he would occupy her mind so thoroughly, then again hadn't Sururi said something to this effect?

Something about the person she would fall in love with would be so complicated even Sakura would have to stop and look? Sakura pulled out a scroll, Sururi didn't know how right she was, because, even now, the subject of Uchiha, Itachi frazzled her mind.

~(Itachi)~

He had brought her to the Hokage, tower, where they could further explain, their situation; he knew that they needed co conspirators to keep the competing Bakufu and Shinsengumi in check if they wanted to continue to have a Konohagakure. Itachi was also sure that he would have no problems convincing his clan to help in the movement, and after that it would all fall into place like dominoes. This was after all for the good of Konoha, and it would be unfair to leave them out of it, what really needed planning was the safety and protection of the villagers.

Itachi was sure that the Akatsuki was a force that they couldn't handle on their own, he was sure that even the current Hokage could only handle one, just as he and Sakura could, counting Jiraiya and two Jounin with ANBU back up it wasn't much insurance. Itachi would have to work with Sakura to think up an elaborate trap, to keep them at bay, they could only take one at a time after all. Even so Itachi was sure that they would be in the Fire Lord's palace trying to get rid of the center of the dispute. Itachi felt his lips twitch in anticipation he had always loved a challenge and it seems that his little kunoichi came with quite a few surprises.

He watched her now as she presented herself to Hokage and went into further detail to what she had told him last night. He pink hair moving to every little twitch and human-like gesture she showed, even so it was the picture of grace, right now she was in her court lady mask. The way she held herself upright and regal, her eyes cool and collected, the way she moved to emphasize her point. It was another side he was seeing to her. To him she was like water, always shifting and changing to the situation but when it came down to it she was merely water.

You couldn't catch her in your hands until she solidify herself and give you her true form unless certain circumstances were met, he wanted to be the one who knew how. Only she was free to give it to him. And that excited him all the more; she was the only thing that could fight against the boredom inside his mind. "I would like to bring Itachi with me to alleviate the situation pertaining to a possible suitor as well as serve as my body guard." Itachi pulled himself to the reality present at the mention of his name, as he looked on to the Hokage who contemplated, the details to a mission he knew she would accept.

He knew that it was simple enough for even her to understand, it would be more beneficial if she sent a person to the root of the situation. "Very well, but I require that you bring a team of your own to the castle, from the sounds of it you'll need back up to keep you safe." Itachi along with Sakura nodded in acceptance. "We'll leave in a few days, it seems that getting rid of the Danzo problem is now second priority." Itachi watched the interaction between what seemed to be two equally powerful women, but Itachi knew that Sakura was only lowering herself to that level in respect.

She was the stand post that kept any of the opposing forces from expelling Konoha, and she was the only one close enough to the Fire Lord to ensure their safety. "Not only that, but the old bastard might prove useful, information wise, I'll have my double agent Sai contact you at the right moment." The Hokage nodded at her words, the furrowed brow in her blonde brow reflecting the processing she was doing to get the information down. Itachi had to admire the girl's restraint, she fed enough information to work out the Hokage's brain without overloading it, and he had noticed the quiet pauses she made in order for the Hokage to organize herself before continuing.

"Do you have a particular team in mind?" asked the Hokage, finally catching up. Sakura nodded, "I would like to bring team seven as my back up, I am the most familiar with them, and while they may not be subtle, their distractions will allow us to work as quietly as possible. I will of course introduce them as my close friends and acquaintances. Not only that, but I heard that the Akatsuki are paying particular attention to the Kyuubi inside of him, and that Sasuke has been a hot commodity of the former Sannin Orochimaru," He felt the urge to flinch wondering where she had gotten that information, but then realized that due to her connections she was bound to have a double agent somewhere.

He had a feeling that it was a certain blonde girl she was 'well' acquainted with. "I trust that this isn't the first time they've been undercover." A short shake of the head as dismissal of the words ended that section of the conversation. "Very well, I will contact you with my ANBU forces carrying my emblem, and in this joint operation I will be sure to secure your place in the Fire Lords nation and try to cover any losses you might sustain during the duration of this mission." Itachi watched as the woman he was quickly starting to love, held out an arm in camaraderie, he watched in approval as their Hokage accepted.

He watched her change forms once again, from her courtly self into the Sakura Haruno she had showed to everyone else. "Well, then Tsunade-sama. I appreciate your help!" Itachi saw the slight narrowing of the Hokage then a smirk in approval. "Take care of our nin, Sakura."

They walked out of the Hokages office and he stopped just behind her as she paused to look at the sunlight, "you failed to mention the fact that your' nine of the ANBU in the BINGO books." He pointed out. She turned to him and gave him one of her more mysterious smiles, as an answer, she took his hand in hers probably to prepare for the trip while Tsunade informed his brother and his team. He smiled at the back of her head. He had to admire her boldness, and the confidence she had in herself to pull off a mission. And then Itachi found himself thinking, that this wasn't the first time she had done something unexpected, and he knew wouldn't be the last.

Awww, how cute, love is in the air… I think I made Itachi a bit of a playboy, but hey that was just in the flow of the story and no matter how many times I've reread it, it fits… Plus I think I can use that for later ^.^ Sorry for the semi-late update, homework crap to bog me down and I have to regulate my fanfic writing to make sure I get good grades so my parents have nothing to complain about! XD

Thanks for reading and review!

To my anonymous reviewers….

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To Megami_Tsunami:  
I'm glad you like it! I love this story too! And I hope I haven't made a predictable plot!

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To angel897:  
Will keep it up or probably die trying!

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To Yuemin:  
lol yeah you'lll have to thank one of my fans for inspiring that idea… XD


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for the story alerts and reviews, plus the faving!

Disclaimer:… *goes on top of the highest building possible* I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!!!!!

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Chapter 9

"If you position some chakra pumped scrolls along the sides of your wall it may be able to hold a bit longer for an oncoming attack while nin go in and eliminate any enemy that you have trapped in your genjutsu mine field." She pointed out, tracing the outer walls of the blue printed map before her, helping for the most part set up inventive traps to protect Konoha while team seven and Itachi were away with her at the palace. "You can put a safety mechanism on the outer seals, that if ripped off turns into the person who ripped it off and equal in strength, it might be beneficial if we could put some sort of nanobite that could instill some nin movements and chakra to defeat them and many more."

She tapped the side of her head, running off ideas while Itachi wrote them down and did mental calculations to the how and when. So far since coming to his workshop they had completed around three different trap designs each varying in chakra use, they had made others but it took too much chakra, and was based on the nins ability to control charka, since there weren't too many who could do it properly they had put them away. They were working on projects that nins with average abilities could trigger or even something a civilian could do to aid the protection of the village.

"Do you think we can create specific weapons made to enhance houses abilities?" she asked suddenly on a new tangent of thought. "If we do something to let them use their abilities to the fullest even with the smallest amount of chakra it would be easy to defend the village from any attack. I wonder if we can incorporate it into seals and-" "Sakura." He told her, she almost jumped out of her skin; it seemed that she had begun rambling; it was something she always did when her mind was in full swing, only she was saying it all aloud. She looked to him, a small trace of his eyebrow raising.

A slight smirk made its way to his face. "What?" she asked, a little shy to the new development, he was showing her more emotions, of course that didn't mean she got to learn anything particularly important pertaining to him. "Nothing Ma-Cherie, I didn't know you were an enthusiast for creating traps" She huffed, then cracked a smile she leaned across the table to go face to face with him, "Oh? Then instead of talking about one shall I make one? I'll make it specifically for you Weasel dear."

He leaned forward close enough to kiss but not close enough, "I'd like to see you try Ma-Cherie." She wondered what would happen if she kissed him it was an interesting notion, would he balk and blush?... Balk maybe but definitely never blush, even so she wanted to see the expression in his eyes when she did. "You'll find my Weasel dear that once I find a challenge I won't let it go until I win." He returned her look a spark in his eyes his predatory glance matching hers, "You forget who you're up against Ma-Cherie. You'll never be able to top me. "

"Even though I'm the one choosing the game?" She closed in for a kiss planting one on his lips before pulling away. "Are you sure you know how to play?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear sitting snugly back in her chair. He smirked. "You've been forewarned Ma-Cherie. I'll be the one to win this game." She began to make outlines to her thoughts on traps, smiling as she did, "Just remember, Weasel dear. I play for keeps." She got no answer and she didn't expect one, but she did know that she was going to win this game; she was going to be the first to figure him out and the first to catch him in her lovely little trap.

~(Itachi)~

She was more open about herself than he could have ever expected, then again in return for the kindness he showed more sides of him as well. The kiss had surprised him, but he learned to cope with her unpredictable movements that defined her as a human being. He was well aware that Haruno, Sakura wasn't someone he could easily fool around with, and she knew that policy applied to him as well. They both knew the terms when they began their game when originally it was just to watch out for each other.

It seemed that they had instinctively picked one another, and it seems that he fell in love first sight from her suspicious profile and her handling of his brother, amazing what the senses could pick up, even more amazing that he didn't realize until halfway into the game. He took a strand of her hair in his hand as she wrote down all of her ideas, He glanced over them, the complex formulas used to measure how much chakra can and would be invested into such a trap, right now she was working on he previous idea to making special weapons that could integrate with a clans special idea, he had to admit it was an incredibly original idea.

Kekkai genkai and blood limit powers were already considered weapons by making something that utilizes them even more was unthought-of since they were already thought of as weapons. "Something particularly interesting about my hair today Weasel dear?" she asked him her pen never stopping even when he touched her hair and looked at her work over her shoulder double checking her already perfect work. Amazing that she didn't blush and balk like all of the other women he knew would do if he did this. "I am working on our relationship Ma-Cherie, we are supposed to be fiancées are we not?"

Her pen paused indicating contemplative thoughts; she turned to him bringing her face in close proximity to his. Her look turned from thoughtful to a devilish smile, a change that even now made his heart pound. She snaked her arms around his neck, and he let her, she was trying to gain ground in their little game, and he wanted to see how far he would take it, "We're going to have to be much more convincing than that Weasel dear. You're only a candidate fiancée there might be a chance that you'll be overridden by any other young noblemen." She stood on her toes to bring her face closer to him, it was an intimidation tactic most women used on men, it wouldn't work on him.

He wrapped his arms around her waist bringing her closer. "You know very well Ma-Cherie the chances of that happening is absolute zero." A knock at the door, made her sigh softly before withdrawing from him, although he wanted to mess with her by keeping her there in his arms this was business and business was never to mix with their personal lives, he knew that she knew that very well. "Enter."

As his chakra had indicated, in entered his little brother, his eyes full of suspicion as they glanced in Sakura's direction as she worked on the development of her new weapon, they were to leave tomorrow. All informed and prepped, team seven had to merely rest and prepare. "Nii-san, mother calls for you." The younger man told him regarding Sakura with different looks of confusion, Itachi knew she could feel the looks he was showing her, and immersed herself in her work. She was good at reading, stupendously well; she knew to let him digest the information before talking to him knowing that it took him time to adjust.

It was an unfortunate habit Sasuke had learned since Kaguya had been hospitalized. Itachi found that the youth overanalyzed a situation and double guess himself a little too much. Although it was a good feature for an aspiring nin to have. Sasuke was doing it too much and it was quickly beginning to annoy Itachi to no end. He did love his brother but there were limits to patience even his. The only reason Itachi didn't pull him aside was the fact that his performance in missions didn't drop, instead they had risen, in Itachi's opinion it was the only good thing that had come out of Kaguya's hospitalization.

"I see," he said in response turning to Sakura who still scribbled on the paper her thoughts, "I'll be back." He told her his voice a low monotone, he knew better than to flaunt their relationship in front of his sort-of broken brother, already he and Sakura did not initially get along too well. It had been that way from the beginning due to Sasuke's reluctance to take on a different teammate, although he handled everything with diplomatic care, Itachi knew he occasionally let biting words slip out.

Knowing her slight temper, Itachi would have expected her to bite back with equal force, if not even harder but she remained innately impassive which saved him a great deal of headache. He walked down the path, easily locating his mother's in the kitchen, from the calmness of it she had something to discuss with him. He slid open the door, "You called mother?" She turned to him, her eyes searching; it meant that the conversation would be meaningful. "Itachi! Is it true that you're considering a partnership with the Haruno girl?"

The question caught him off guard it wasn't something he had exactly expected, although he was sure that the mission details hadn't gotten out, there was a slight chance that they did. But, Itachi was one hundred percent sure that his mother came to this conclusion because Sakura had been spending a considerable amount of time together. "Is that bad? Mother?" She sighed, and rubbed her face, "The clan elders won't be happy Itachi." He gave his mother a smile, causing her to sigh yet again, "That's right you don't care… Sorry for bothering you, but tell me my son… What makes her so special?" Itachi took his place at the dining table keeping mental tabs on the chakra around them; he didn't want anyone listening on their conversation.

It was rare that he verbalized any of his thoughts, and this was one of those times that he wanted no one to accidently hear. "She is… interesting." He said as truthfully as he could while still managing a straight face. He thought of all the tactical games they played all the mind games she brought up, all of the refreshing mental stimulation she gave him. She more interesting than a good book, which was a feat in itself since most women he found to be boring and air headed, the Yamanaka girl was a good example. He felt the eyes of his mother examine him, something she often did when she believed that she was only getting part of the story.

A predatory smile much like his own appeared on her face, it made Itachi remember who was the one who had instilled all of those tricks into his brain, the mentor who had encouraged an protected him for so long had to be someone with considerable skills as a master trickster. Although he had surpassed his mother in terms of trickery and trap laying it didn't make her any less of a formidable person. He saw an all-too familiar glint in her eyes that could only spell trouble. "Really now?" he gave a nod in conformation; he had a relative idea to what she was going to do. It seemed that Uchiha, Mikoto would make her first debut as a possible mother-in-law.

"Itachi, go take your brother and… do something." He tilted his head to the side, as if to ask 'Do what mother?' she smiled, "Since my oldest son is going on a mission with his little brother shouldn't you two get more in synch? I want you two to be able to work as a functioning team, why not visit Kaguya to lift his spirits a bit? Or maybe get together with Kakashi and his friend Naruto, and do some team planning?" He couldn't argue with her logic. Lately his brother had grated on his nerves might as well get used to the new brooding Sasuke they were going on what seemed like a long term mission and they had to show no weaknesses. Although he doubted Sasuke would ever do such a thing, it was better to be safe than sorry, also, he wanted to make sure his mother approved before he tried anything.

Plus he wanted to see what would happen if Sakura was blindsided it was an experiment worth looking into. Plus, he couldn't begrudge his mother this one thing could he? "Very well." He said, turning to go fetch his brother and whisk him off to do something that would aloe his mother and favorite puzzle of the day play together. "Oh Itachi, send in your lovely partner there's a recipe I want to give her." He paused and nodded before he made his way up the path toward where Sasuke was still lingering around Sakura. Wondering if he should tell the girl or not, if she should watch out.

~(Sakura)~

She looked at the woman across from her, both of them sipped at their tea in comfortable silence. She was beautiful, long black hair pulled back into a low hanging pony tail that much resembled the way Itachi wore his hair. Her black eyes looked at Sakura with equal interest. Itachi had failed to mention that the 'person' who had wanted to talk to her was his mother. Really… What was he thinking? It was a mystery but she had a vague feeling that he was trying to test her, in her opinion it was a weird way to do so, but she couldn't fault him for originality. This was certainly…unexpected, on so many different levels. It was a good move in their little game, because… she had no idea what to do.

"I hear that you and Itachi are dating." Sakura choked on her tea. Ok, she had DEFINITELY not expected that. She cleared her throat as she looked at the older woman almost at a loss of words to say. "So tell me what do you like about my son?" Sakura saw a familiar glint in the older woman's eyes… So that's where Itachi had gotten his techniques. Sakura wanted to sigh in exasperation. The older woman was like another Itachi, only about 100 times more diluted, that didn't means he could let her guard down. Even so it was so like the little ferret to sic his mother on her. "He's…interesting." She said after a little bit of considering not completely sure what the woman wanted out of her.

She saw the woman's eyes light up in understanding, glad that Sakura was able to read her much more easily then Itachi, which gave her a better advantage. "Strange, Itachi says the same about you." What did she mean by that statement? Sakura wondered to herself before giving the older woman a smile and replying. "I see, well it's nice to know that Weasel dear holds me in high regards." Sakura was amused at the way the woman's brow shot up at the pet name, a little smile appearing on her face. "Weasel dear?" she asked amused, Sakura smiled, "Yes, Weasel dear."

"How befitting of my son." Sakura gave the older woman a smirk quickly conforming to the situation. "I know." Sakura drew circles on the table looking at the invisible swirls while keeping an ear out for the older woman's words, "Welcome to the family Haruno-san you've got my full backing." Sakura lifted the tea to her lips covering a smile before she replied, "You have no idea how grateful I am, and call me Sakura, we should be friendly as daughter and mother in law shouldn't we? Mikoto-san?" She held out a hand in agreement, and was met with a firm grip.

They made eye contact and what seemed to be an identical look of malicious trickery reflected in both of their eyes. It seems that Sakura had found a kindred spirit. It seemed Itachi had just unknowingly dropped the greatest weapon against him in her lap. And she didn't even break a sweat. It seemed today was getting better and better, "You're right Sakura, so very right. Now that business is over let's talk a little I'll tell you anything you want about Itachi, since he's such a closed mouthed child of mine." She picked up her tea, and Sakura did the same taking a small dango stick from the plate in the middle of the table "Wonderful! Then where shall we start? Hmm… Oh! I know! Why don't you tell me a bit about Weasel dear's younger days?"

~(Itachi)~

The moment he saw his mother and Sakura talking avidly he suspected something. The minute he approached and saw their knowing smiles directed toward him, he almost had the sinking feeling that he had just signed his life away. It seemed Sakura had managed to charm his mother in record time; he had only been gone for three hours. When he got to the table Sakura held out a hand toward his mother and to his surprise his mother shook it back. He hadn't gotten his reclusiveness from just solely being a genius.

For the most part he had gotten most of his features from his mother, only he was a bit more magnified on those features then her. The fact that his mother was plotting against him with his possible to-be was never a good thing. At least he had learned that anyone who plotted with his mother were dangerous, he would know a majority of Mikoto's plots were made with him. Knowing that Sakura was a dangerous element in herself, it did nothing to reassure him that the two were not up to no good.

Thinking more deeply into the subject his mother and Sakura were increasingly alike in the need to play tricks and mind games. Itachi wanted to sigh in exasperation, he had potentially put himself in a dangerous situation. Although his mother was an Alpha in most situations Sakura was more so and Itachi could clearly see that his mother was bonding with the girl, they would make a dangerous combination in the future. Itachi was only glad that he wasn't one of the clan elders who would get most of the backlash from the two, from what he had learned about the girl, the more you tried to chain her to reform to your ideas the more she resisted. If you simply didn't let go she wouldn't hesitate to destroy you.

He watched as Sakura got up and walked toward him a glint in her eye that spelled trouble. "C'mon Weasel dear, we have to go to sleep tomorrow, it's a long ways to where we're going." She said to him in a honey covered tone that made his skin crawl. "And you my dear are going to bring me home are you not?" Itachi nodded once in confirmation as she wrapped an arm around his, She turned slightly to wave at his mother who waved back. It seemed that the trip to the Fire Lord's would be a bit more tortuous then he imagined, from the tone of the girls voice, he was in for a very long, uncomfortable trip. "Hey weasel dear, is it true that when you were three, you got into your mothers makeup and started putting it on?" And the torture begins.

XD I couldn't help myself, since Sakura will probably eventually be marrying Itachi she should meet his mommy right? XD

Sorry for the late update! I had a major brain distraction when I got side tracked with a visual art project and another story idea that had nothing to do with my Itasaku work ^.^

To my reviewers!

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To Wow:

Sorry I didn't talk to you in the last chapter… It sort of slipped my mind as I entered the chapter around 12 o clock at night on a school night XD. Yes, this can and will be a long series because… I don't see it ending any time soon… ^.^' I am for the most part proud of my work, but my parents don't like the fact that I write, and sometimes find it troublesome that my span of imagination is so broad its hard for me to concentrate on something resulting in B's in school… sigh oh well that's my life. I will continue writing this story with enthusiasm! (either that or die trying XD) THANKS FOR THE REVIEW!

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To Megami_Tsunami:

Thanks and yes.. My grammar and punctuation needs work still ^.^, but trust me when I say it's a whole lot better than last year when I was a sophomore… Then… it was no better than someone in elementary school… well actually we (me and my parents) think that it might have been worse XD. Thanks for reviewing!

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To angel897:

Can and will do!


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks for the Reviews, Alerts, and Favoriting!

Disclaimer: You all know I don't own Naruto right? XD

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Chapter 10

She adjusted the semi-too-tight obi positioned around her waist; it had been a long time since she had to wear imperial clothing. She found that she liked it no better then she had before. The long robes prohibited free movement, the long sleeves heavy and too decorative. Her hair put up nicely with several ornery senbon made to look like high class jewelry made her head pound, and the hair extensions made all of it that much more painful. She didn't like the weight that they gave her, she never had, but alas it was just another one of those requirements no one was allowed to go in without, as a lady of the highest class you always looked your best.

She looked over at an at-ease standing Itachi, his robes falling over his frame in a free and easy fashion, she had to envy the lightness of those clothes, and the lack of complication that made hers so damn suffocating. It was one of those things that made her wish she weren't a girl. He looked at her and smirked, it made her flame up. As if he knew what it was like! She knew he was making fun of her, dressing in all of this useless finery while he merely wore a noble's suit with his emblem sewn on the back with the finest thread. Men luckily didn't have to wear jewelry and she was envious for it. He held out his arm in almost mock respect, as she also affixed the veil that hid her face-it was not time for them to know her true face yet, there were many options she would have to exploit before that happened. That was beside the point, oh how she wanted to stuff him in a dress like this and then have him tell her that it was fine!

"Uncomfortable Ma-Cherie?" he asked in an almost too caring voice that made her knew he felt no sympathy for her. It seemed that Weasel dear was getting back at her for all the times she brought up his past. Well she would show him. "Of course that is if"-she stamped on his foot as hard as she could, causing a sound grunt to issue from him. "You are. Weasel dear" She finished sweetly. She watched in happy amusement as he shot her a glare in her direction before it smoothed out. Turning to the people behind her who couldn't help but gawk at the scene she told them. "Ok, remember your roles, you're my acquaintances on my lands where I've supposedly been at for the last couple of months, if you have any questions I'll introduce you to my elite team of ANBU here."

Properly closing their jaws they nodded in reassurance. She turned and put a delicate hand on Itachis outstretched arm, they were going to walk down the hallway to the court room antechamber where they would be formally received by the Fire Lord. She wondered how much it had changed. She looked down at her kimono closing her eyes for a moment fully donning the mask of Lady Haruno. On cue the tatami doors were opened just on time by the servants of the palace. At that moment she looked up ahead ready to face anything.

Itachi walked in pace with her as they followed the fan bearers who led the way for them even though she already knew the way. Formal greetings were bedecked with extravagance even thought the Fire Lord knew very well that she didn't like such frippery. They were led to grand doors that indicated the court room. "Announcing Lady Haruno and Company." She heard slightly muffled through the door, she squared her shoulders even more, and held her head high, ready for anything, ready to throw herself into the potential political shredder, for her beliefs, and for herself.

They walked forward into the ante chamber the veil slightly obstructing her view but she could see well enough to distinguish faces, none could see hers unless at a very close range, even so they gasped in amazement. The effect she wanted she needed to remind them who exactly pulls the country together. She made her way down the aisle past the nobles that sat on either side of her their fans blocking all but their fans, but she knew that they were awed.

She was the Lady Haruno they had wanted to see and here she was, despite the covered face her freely hanging hair at the back was a big clue to who she was. She knelt at the altar before her sovereign and semi-friend Itachi, and her little group of nin behind her. She gave enough of a bow to match his station, and sort of as if she was bowing to someone akin to a son. She considered him her child of sorts, since she was the one who directed many of his doings. "It has been a while Lady Haruno, how are your lands?" She waited for the appropriate time before responding, "Very well My Lord, however certain circumstances have made me come here before I could finish a big project." She saw him slightly stiffen. Like a child caught taking something he shouldn't have.

"I have heard that Lady Sururi has passed away and your new consort is Lady Kumu… That was rather fast wasn't it?" she asked offhandedly as if a mother were scolding a child. It was a low blow but it was necessary for the break down between the two of them, the more time he spent with the little harpy the harder it would be to separate them without mentally damaging him further. She knew that no one would dare to speak against her here. She knew that here they were too afraid to speak out against her. More than one person has disappeared because they had spoken out against her. She looked up at him, beside him sat Kumu, not shaking even once, as if she really the Fire Lord's wife. Sakura would show this little country hick what it was like to really politically fight.

Sakura stood before them, "Lady, Kumu-if that is what you still are, and I've heard many rumors about your loose behavior. I do not accept you as the Fire Lord's consort as the Head Advisor, and one who has been approved by his parents in the country to take care of him, I will not accept you unless you prove yourself worthy. Do you accept? Or will you decline?" She watched, as the younger girl turned red, "How dare you! You lowly peasant girl! I shoul-" Sakura snapped her fan so loudly that the girl visibly flinched. "A Lady should never shout, she should always keep her calm in tense matters for she is the neck that turns the husbands head in the right direction. A test you have just failed, Kumu. What ungraceful conduct." The girl turned white then silenced wisely choosing to shut up.

She should have known that even when insulted a lady would never speak up, merely using quiet words to tear the enemy apart. Something that Kumu was not, Kumu was a young country hick who had walked into the imperial palace thinking she could take it over without any problems. Had she been wrong, Sakura had cut off every exit for the girl to progress any further the moment she spoke against Sakura, and like anyone who valued her position she held a grudge that was almost impossible to dissuade.

She eyed the Fire Lord who had a shocked expression on his face. It seems that he too had forgotten what it was like to have her watching over him, a lesson he wouldn't soon forget. After a moment of shock she continued. "We have much to speak about my Lord. I have heard many things of the happenings of the court. It seems that you have underestimated my network you were foolish to ever think that I don't know anything inside of these walls that are happening, or have you forgotten the reason why you and your parents had recruited me?" It was a silent message to all those here that she was always watching no matter how far away she knew what was happening. The Fire Lord looked at her with steady eyes, before she saw them see through reason, he was beginning to break.

"Did I do anything wrong that you had to exclude me from your life my Lord? Why was I not notified of Sururi's death?" She said it with barely any emotion, but she knew he understood the emotions that she held in. although she regretted her friend's death, she knew it was a casualty of war. He knew that Sururi was her friend as well, and she was playing on that sympathy. "I am sorry Lady Haruno." He said his voice raw and choking. "She was my friend as well, my Lord I wanted to at least know from you the person she loved the most. Yet, I hear it from one of my servants as a passing rumor." She watched as his face came close to crumpling.

He was beginning to feel the guilt and he was putty in her hands. She watched as Kumu realized the ground she was losing, the ground she had built up after many months were being torn down within moments. The stupid girl didn't know how to even keep him from grieving, and Kumu was beginning to see that to the Fire Lord she was nothing but a comfort tissue ready to discard at any time. It was cruel, but it was justified. To Sakura Sururi was the one companion she could count on in anything, and she would do her damndest that the love of her life would at least get with the right woman. The likes of Kumu could never replace such a brave-hearted magnificent woman such as Sururi.

"My Lord?" the girl asked leaning in closer to him. Sakura watched in satisfaction as he took one look at her and crumpled. The revulsion and regret that played in his eyes, made her want to take back that move, but she knew that this was for the best; a clean cut meant a clean heal. She gestured to the servants and nobles directing them hurrying them out before he cried in front of them, "No one is allowed back in here without my permission." She told them she also nodded to Itachi and the others. Here they were not welcome to see one of their Lord's more weak moments. It was something as one of his last standing friends in the court could do.

When they left she showered him with comfort, she came up to him to hug him and whispered reassuringly like a mother that, men didn't cry in front of others. Together they mourned together. She dried his tears with her kimono sleeves. "Don't worry I am here." She told him as a friend could only. "She's dead, I can't believe she's gone!" he held onto her as if she were his last life line. It hadn't been the last time she had seen him cry and she knew that it would not be the last. She was like his mother, although she was roughly around two years younger than him. She took off his hat and ran her fingers through his hair as he cried on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to be your strength my Lord. She meant so much to us both." Sururi really did, his tears reminded her of why she had set off to Konoha in the first place. She had gotten side tracked hadn't she? How could she forget how fragile he had been without Sururi to be his steel will? "As I have said my Lord I have heard many things in the court room. Is it true that the Bakufu and the Shinsengumi are moving? Are the Akatsuki apart of their plan?" After taking a few moments to compose himself, he sighed, and nodded. "Is it true that the court also wants me to marry?" he flinched, "I am sorry I had wanted to stop them but…" he had been taken advantage of. "Don't worry. I already have someone in mind for that position."

Sadness gone, he turned to her. "It seems that even someone like me can find love My Lord." He lifted the veil to see her genuine smile. He smiled at her, it was a bit of a broken smile, but a Fire Lord was made of tougher stuff. Circumstances made it so you had to move on quickly through things, especially in court. "So the Celestial maiden has finally touched down has she?" he asked in a joking voice, mentioning one of her names in the court, as someone who was detached and inhuman. "I brought him with me if you would like to meet him." She told him, business could wait later, right now the best thing to do for her Lord was to make everything as gay as possible.

"Yes! It is a joyous occasion! Show him to me!" She smiled at him before pulling down her veil and then placing his hat back atop his head. She knew that inside he was still grieving, but now it was manageable. "Lady Haruno?" he said to her as she went to open the doors. She turned to him in slight question keeping her regal bearing as if she were a queen. "Welcome home." Sakura bowed and then turned to open the double doors to call everyone in. they had been kept long enough.

~(Itachi)~

He leaned against a pillar right outside of the antechamber in the waiting room, where many other nobles mingle mixed and gossiped about their little group. Kakashi leaned against the pillar as well in finery a rogue and careless manner that suited him reading a book, Itachi knew the cover was a fake, and Kakashi was reading his poor excuse of literature. Naruto was shifting subtly from side to side, nervous of his surroundings, while his brother stood there looking out the window ignoring any longing glances sent his way, like every girl there did at the moment gossiping among themselves.

Itachi snubbed them deciding that none of them were not worthy of his glances, only one woman was worthy of that. He turned his head to the door as he felt her chakra approach. It felt considerably lighter than before when she was grilling Kumu, along with him, the group looked to the doors the moment Sakura began to open them. He made his move, in three strides he was before her. "The Fire Lord says you may enter now." Her voice was mellow and soothing as if talking to a panicked horse and the verge of getting loose-much how the nobles were at the moment.

One by one, they entered their curious glances in their direction, as Sakura stayed behind, "He will meet with you now." She took his arm, and he knew that the other three would follow. She brought them up to the altar as if it were déjà vu as if the scene were repeating itself. "I apologize to the court and my Lord for upsetting you. Another reason why I wanted to come back was to surprise you all with m engagement." Many gasped an explosion of sound and shocked gossip rang through the hall, Itachi stepped forward.

"This is him my Lord." Sakura said to the man on the dais proudly. "Meet, Uchiha Itachi, my intended." Itachi executed a perfect bow. "I am honored to finally meet the Lord my beloved had been talking about." "Rise." The man said in a considerably stronger voice than before, Itachi stood before the man measuring him, the way Sakura had treated him, made Itachi feel a bit of rivalry between the man and himself, and emotion he had never been used to feeling. He knew that the Fire Lord would occupy her time, leaving less for him. It was jealousy, but it was human and true. It worried him that Sakura might fall for him, for all of the affection she held for the lord.

In his mind it looked more like a parent child relationship, even so… "You must be quite the man to have Lady Haruno dragon of the court fall for you Lord Itachi." Itachi inclined his head slightly. He saw a small flash of teasing rivalry in the other mans eyes. It seemed that the Fire Lord was extremely possessive as well. Itachi began to wonder how Sakura seemed to find the craziest people aside from himself. Then again that was the sort of person she was, not only that but she was ten other people, and it obscured her true form. Itachi had long made it his mission to find out who she was.

Before Itachi could reply, Sakura cut in, "Now! I wouldn't want to interrupt your little standoff, between my intended, but, my Lord must meet my other acquaintances. Uchiha, Sasuke. Uzumaki, Naruto and Hatake, Kakashi." They looked at each other for a moment longer before the Fire Lord broke his gaze and looked at the three who bowed and introduced themselves. Itachi felt the prickly touch of lightning cross between the two of them. He had a distinct feeling that they wouldn't get along with each other. He wanted to sigh, wondering when he had been this accepting of things that weren't on his terms.

Introductions over, Sakura asked them to mingle with the crowd. Itachi watched longingly as she climbed up the dais to talk to the Fire Lord. He saw a glint in the other man's eyes that he didn't like. Sighing inwardly he led the other men into the waiting and curious crowd of nobles. After introduction after introduction, Itachi found himself face to face with the Kumu woman. He looked her over wondering what was so special about her for the Fire Lord to fall for her charms. True she had a pretty face, her big brown eyes, and sensual lips said a lot. To Itachi however it didn't make up for the fact that this woman's head was filled with next to nothing except for ambition, and no means to carry it out.

He could see it in those slow calculating eyes. He could see himself falling for her triacks, if he had been dumber then a rock, and extremely inebriated. Even when she was trying to charm him he felt the crawling sensation of something creeping on his skin. Disgust ran through him in waves, he flashed a quick look at their companions who were for the most part making their way through their conversations. It seemed that Itachi had no escape from this particular encounter. Oh, well since this woman wasn't smart enough she had to have someone pulling the strings behind her and would have to figure out eventually. He turned back to her, as she smiled up at him through her fan.

"Lady Kumu. I believe. " He stated to her, in that instant he saw the moment most woman like her did when he said their name. It was the instantaneous reaction of falling in love with him. As conceited as it was it was true. "A pleasure to meet you Uchiha-sama. It honors me for you to know my name."

Mwahahaha evil cliff hanger! New update! XD sigh why is this story the only one coming in a relative roll? XD!

Read and Review!

To my anonymous reviewers!

To angel897:  
Will do thanks! XD

To Bassoongirl:  
Lol thanks! I'm glad I've made a Sakura no one hates. After all who doesn't like a self assured kick ass heroine? XD thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks for the reviews, alerts and faving! They are much appreciated! XD

Disclaimer: Ok… you know I don't own Naruto and possibly never will, and that I do want to own it. So why do you have to torment me with making me say I don't own it? WAAAHHHH that cruelty of the world! (enjoy the next chapter) XD XD XD

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Chapter 11

She was idiot that much he could gather after listening to her chatter for a few minutes while she was batting her eyes. Her feeble advances were annoying and after a mere three minutes of talking to her Itachi was sure he had lost many, many IQ points. Never before had he exposed himself to a woman's useless chatter. He didn't like the high pitched voices ensued to do it, he preferred calm conversation, this 'chatter' thing had always to some degree been molded with the female society there was a time when he wondered what women talked about now that he had firsthand experience with it he found he didn't care for it.

He tried to block it out, but yet again the annoying woman before him giggled, having him wonder what part of the last three minutes of conversation was even remotely amusing. He looked over the girls head to Sakura, who was still avidly talking to the Fire Lord. "Uchiha-sama?" Lady Kumu asked him, he turned his gaze on her once again, finding that her face was beginning to become as annoying as her high soprano esque voice. He was beginning to wonder what the Fire Lord found in this woman, her voice that grated and her habits of unconsciously crowding extremely annoying. Even now he felt his head begin to throb at the high pitched voice that he was sure he would never want to hear again.

Even so he stood his ground; he tried to tune her out in hopes that the headache would calm, that or she would fall silent and move onto her next victim neither of which seemed very likely to him. A few moments later she took a step closer than, proper manners permitted, he knew that he was her next target in order to scorn Sakura, the slight headache became painful throbs that seemed to rock his whole being, he knew that being with the unintelligent wasn't fun, and thus didn't talk to them, now that he was talking to one he felt himself nearing a limit.

Another moment, later he felt a reassuring hand on his arm, causing him to turn to his savior, to Sakura, she sent her chakra into his system, her healing chakra cooling his throbbing head that tried to translate whatever the girl was talking about. She turned to the annoying one who had a visible scowl on her face. "Lady, Kumu, loose as ever I see. Gone to trying to steal others intended I see." Sakura positioned herself slightly before Itachi as if shielding him from the other woman.

He felt his head begin to think normally in her presence it was nothing short of a relief to know that after this ordeal he would be able to think clearly again. There was a hush over the crowd. The girl looked at Sakura coolly as if she had the advantage. "It isn't stealing if the other party is willing Lady Haruno. Maybe the ugly face you keep under that veil drives him from you." Itachi could quickly see the ugliness of the situation, it seemed that the girl was wanting an early grave, he knew that Sakura would be all to ready to give it to and ship the girl's body back to her parents in pieces. He gently enveloped Sakura in his arms to distract her for a moment; he knew she wouldn't attack the girl, but just in case. "I only have interest for my beloved. Sorry, to have confused the situation, I was merely surprised, I was not aware that there was someone so uneducated among the higher ranking nobles.

"It makes one appreciate the complexity of my beloved's mind." He felt Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke begin to gather behind them as if ready for an attack anytime. Itachi watched the typical response from the girl, her face twisted in an unseemly way, it was denial, "Uchiha-sama surely you jest. Do you mean to say you would prefer, this low bred girl with no beauty, over me?" Itachi this time really did sigh. Women like her were annoying, and a great pain in the ass. No wonder Sakura had created a character just for this situation "Even if my beloved had no beauty, her mind is enough to attract me to her. Her true beauty lies in her brilliantly learned mind. Her looks are a bonus on my part."

As he said that, he held Sakura's head in his two hands, slowly peeling back the veil to her face stopping at the bridge of her nose, he knew that all of them around them were trying to get a clear look. It was earlier then she had planned, but everything was fine this way as well. He leaned to kiss her on the lips before she put a finger on his lips, "As much as I love you Itachi, I follow proper conduct. I don't want to become a side show to those who think that insults can get through my armor, but I thank you for trying to defend me." She patted him on the side of the cheek in reassurance. He watched as she turned away from him to face the Kumu girl, "It seems that I need to remind many people that I fight my own fights… That includes you I see."

He saw the smirk behind the veil, smirking himself he took a step back and bowed to her retreating to the safety of their little troupe. "Low bred is it?"she asked in an almost amused and calm voice.

~(Sakura)~

"Tell, me in the archives which is the most documented clan in the area?" The girl didn't flinch; no she braved this portion out. "Do you know the most notorious clans? Do you know the famed rulers of the Fire Land, and their prestige, their goals or accomplishments?" She didn't say anything. As if her lack of speech was a statement in itself. To Sakura, it was sign of ignorance. Ignorance led to anger, and that would be Kumu's ultimate downfall. As pretty as the girl was, her pale skin, brown chocolate eyes and dark hair, she was stupid, and no self respecting Lord would choose her after Sakura was done with her.

Sakura let out a soft sigh, as if she were a teacher exasperated with a particularly resistant student who just didn't get it after many, many drills. "Did you come here to court thinking that you could fit in with the high class and intellectually elite?" Sakura said her voice turning into a steel sergeant's voice who was scolding his troops. This time she flinched, like a child who was being harshly reprimanded by their mother. "The name Haruno, has repeatedly been in the texts, 'The Blue Blood Royalty', 'Saviors in the Shadows', and 'War Heroes of Fire' so who are you to say I am low bred? As for your clan Lady Kumu, Kilara, the Kilara clan has been known to be owners of the local prostitution houses and have been long since, had loose morals, if I believe correctly your father has so many mistresses that they outnumber your total of one hundred servants.

"The fact that, that particular statement is true means that there is a chance you could be a child of one of those women, not the child of your father's true wife. Lady Hanai. Your education has said as much. It offends me to think that the court has lowered their standards as to let you in because your father brought you in here with dirty money, of poor women, who do that sort of thing because their husbands sell them into it or their families need that income-"

Just as suddenly Sakura to a step to the side to accommodate the girl who had tried to attack her now sprawled in a tangle of robes on the floor. When the girl reached out with a clawed hand to grab her robes Sakura promptly stepped on it causing the girl to shriek. "You know." She said pressing her foot more into the girl's hand, a hand that couldn't do a thing. "There is a reason, I have personal body guards. They aren't there to protect me from stupid people like you Kumu. They are there to make sure I don't accidently kill said stupid person." As she said it she pressed her foot more and more into the girls hand almost enough pressure to shatter every bone, Kumu was an example to the court, that any sort of disobedience, so far she had showed them a relatively kind hand, and it was time to show them, what other things she was capable of doing.

Sakura looked at the little wretch on the floor, who still spat and hissed like a cat at her. There was no hope for enlightenment in this one. Sakura eased off the pressure, then took a step back, "I am not merciless, Kumu, but I can be, don't make me turn that particular feature on your or I will destroy you without a second thought. Get out, now while you can, this is your last chance." Right now, she only needed to show a glimpse of that cold hearted woman, but right now she also needed a contrast, something to tell the people that she was the one they wanted not the girl lying on the floor. Sakura would keep the peace and balance, and Kumu would start a war over the smallest of things. A shame and she wanted to break at least one bone for the girl.

Sakura walked up to the dais as proper conduct she had to apologize for making such a ruckus. She bowed as she did so, leaving Kumu to sob on the floor by herself. Kumu had been stupid, and stupidity in situations like this was always paid in full, this was no exception. The girl was lucky that she would only be embarrassed for a while, instead of paying for it in blood. Then again a blunder was what had gotten her into the court; she had been using the mask of Watanuki, the mad woman ANBU operative to take care of the Fire Lord and his family.

At that time, she had accidently let a breech in security go and an enemy nin went through. As a last minute protection she jumped in front of his jutsu and barely managed to deflect it, some of it of course got her in the side, cutting her open. She had crashed to the ground, and she had completed her mission. At the time it had been what she wanted, merely to die because of the guilt of all of her kills, and the ANBU operative Sawako hadn't been created, to save as many lives as she took. When she had lay there on the damp grass feeling her blood leak out, it had been the Fire Lord, who had pressed his silk shawl against her wound and carried her to medics, who had healed, her. Of course they never took her mask off, she never let them, when they had been alone though, the Fire Lord had been kind enough to visit her.

This had been right before his crowning. He had asked if she would work under his employ. He was in the position to save many lives, and that was where she found her opportunity to protect as many people as she could, it caused her to accept. After two years she had accomplished much. Disarming any war attempts all the while, teaching the young Lord how to properly rule a country. In case, she would die in the line of battle. It seemed that they still needed a lot of work; he needed to know how to deflect manipulation and turn it on the opponent. She knew she couldn't let him leave anywhere without that particular trait smoothed out.

As a mentor to his lordship it seemed that they had a while to go didn't they? In a way that hindered her plans greatly, but at the same time she sort of did miss, looking over his work and making sure that he didn't mess up. He was like a child to her, and she knew that one day he would have to let go of her hand. She had been putting him the process of doing that with Sururi at his side, supporting him like any proper and strong Lordess would do, but it seemed that plan also seemed to have fallen through. "If you'll excuse us now then your Lordship, my companions and I are weary shall we continue discussions later?"

He waved to her a smile alight on his face, "Go, it has certainly been a long day. I apologize for keeping you here longer then you had intended." She nodded, then reached out to take Itachi's outstretched arm, and gracefully exited, Kumu starting to pull herself together, she began to shout profanities, at Sakura but all of them fell on deaf ears. Sakura had made it apparent that anyone who would back or support her was a fool in themselves. No one would support her, or help her launch an attack against Sakura. It had resolved itself rather messily but the job was done, the fact that no one helped the girl up assured Sakura that she was finished. That was one objective off of the list, and Sakura knew that she had a million of others that needed to go. Filth seemed to accumulate in places of power, and the Fire Lord's palace was definitely one of them.

~(Itachi)~

"That was incredible Sakura-chan!" the blonde said from beside him as they picked at their dinner. Sakura had warned them to be wary noble stopped at nothing to get rid of an enemy even if it meant the basics of poisoned food. They ate with silver chopsticks, and the various reactive potions she used to determine the toxicity of the food. "Thank you Naruto, but you'll find that this sort of thing becomes a daily occurrence." Itachi didn't doubt her for a moment; it was a high place she was at here, and life must have been in its own way on the edge.

Even so it was suffocating in the confines of this palace, it was as if it were a city in itself, full of corrupt hierarchy that she seemed to battle every day. To Itachi it was no wonder she left in search of some sort of relief, this life was suppressing as it was. He could imagine that her escapades in court were equivalent to the squabbles the Uchiha clan or even more so. Either way he liked it. Finishing all the food that he could handle without feeling sick he put down his chopsticks, and told them that he would be walking the perimeter. He had to think, several matters had appeared before them, and he would have to compose a report, for the Hokage.

He walked the gardens, still in his finery; it seemed it would be a while until he would be able to dress in completely easy moving clothes. He opened his chakra radar to check the perimeter surprised to find the massed security around this place, none of them were nin, it somewhat worried and relieved him. It seemed that someone wanted to be aware of all of their movements. Interesting, but he knew that Sakura had the palace outlined all in her head and would easily be able to get away. From what it looked like it seemed that no one in court knew about their ANBU Op's. Itachi assumed that Sakura controlled them from the palace though, which meant that she had full confidence to move around in the palace without any problems.

Then again it was very like her, it would be a given that she knew the palace back ways like the back of her hand, this was after all her playground. He'd be disappointed if she didn't know it. Then again, he didn't think that she would be that irresponsible, as someone who can control and manipulate the Fire Lord behind the scenes would not overlook something that simple. Which brought him to his next subject, what would he do with the Lord? It seemed that, he was a key factor into getting Sakura. Since it seemed that they shared a special bond, in what way Itachi was not completely sure, but from the look in the Lord's eyes it was an indescribable possessive feeling, he scrambled to think of a comparison.

He heard a splash to his left, he looked up to see what it was, it was a noble and her child playing. Yes, that was what the relationship between the Fire Lord and Sakura seemed to have. It was very similar to those cases Itachi and his father had competed for his mother's attention. Both of them doing the extreme to hold her attentions, neither relenting until one or the other had her full undivided attention, then rubbing it in each other's faces. It didn't reassure him of his position as lover, if he recalled Mikoto always paid more attention to him. Itachi silently let out a sigh, if he and Sakura ever got married he would be sure never to have children who did that.

He rubbed the side of his face before looking out to the horizon from one of the many decorative gardens that palace seemed to have. It seemed that he would have to show the Lord his power and make it so that there was no choice but to accept the fact that Sakura would be his from now on. How though? What were good qualities to show? There were many things that Itachi could choose from. As a noble you learned many things to make yourself seemed even more educated, and any subject he and his parents chose for himself he excelled at.

What were the most accepted? The way many of the noblemen eyed his to be didn't reassure him that they wouldn't try anything even while he was here. It seemed that Sakura attracted many more people with her mind, and people wanted to know what such an individual would look like. It was times like this where Itachi wondered why she was so oblivious to herself? Then again considering she wasn't like most women, if you thought about it, she was more of a business woman, very professional.

He knew she could flirt well enough to tease him and keep him walking in circles, through that labyrinth that was her mind, but he was sure she had no interaction with men as much aside for business. Although neither of them had told each other of their pasts, from the many masks she possessed and the emergence of the courts Lady Haruno, she had started off in an anonymous life from very young, he suspected maybe early teens. If that was the case she had always relied on masks to keep her out of any sort of trouble, he didn't doubt her ability to seduce, but whether she had actually gone through an actual carnal act with anyone, was something he severely doubted.

Which meant that she merely didn't recognize the looks of curiosity and interest in their eyes, either that or she believed that she could send them all off on her own, he had a feeling that the fire Lord played a major role in driving away any possible suitor as well, keeping her in total isolation. He had to give the Lord credit; he did know how to protect what he loved. Which in turn might be beneficial to Itachi, if the Lord wanted Sakura's sanity to stay intact he would have to let Itachi have her. Itachi was determined to make it so she couldn't live without him, and his mind was enough to lure her in.

He was sure as well that she was making it so that he could never live without her; it seemed that her possessiveness was on par with his, it showed the way they tiptoed around each other trying to get an advantage over the other. It was a game they both enjoyed, and it was a game he was sure they would continue to enjoy. Now then, what to do in terms of impressive behavior? If he recalled that noblemen liked to show their strength through training, although he would have to suppress his nin skills it seemed that it wouldn't be bad to fight in terms of katana's and other soldier weapons that were used. As for battles of the mind, that was one battle Itachi was sure to win, regardless of the person. Even Sakura, he smirked to himself as the wind picked up his hair crowding his face hiding the smile.

She was something he was determined to have, and no one would stop him from getting her, not even she would be able to stop him. That was one thing he was confident in regardless. No matter what life threw at him, he got what he wanted and Sakura would be no different. The only thing that would differ was the method he would get her and the amount of time he would hold onto her as he was sure she would hold onto him, which he was sure that would span for the rest of their lives.

Phew! Done! I haven't written stuff for Itachi to think up for a while and it feels sort of weird, then again it might be the compounding headache I am getting from over thinking everything. I swear school sucks! Stupid rules and shit to take away the imagination! Ahhh…. The brain is throbbing… and I just took a nap too…. *sigh*

Thanks for reading! Please Review! You know how much I love the comments ^.^

To my anonymous  
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To Megami_Tsunami: Ahahah yeah! I sort of have a little experience with political dogs fights so… it seemed a bit more realistic. There certainly are stupid people who lose their cool over a political battle and the person who wins is the one who mentally wears down the other first ^.^ So! That's how Sakura is in court. Cold and business like that way no one can find an opening to attack her with. Thanks for reviewing!

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To Wow: Yeah, gotta love the complicated dynamics, its sort of like society today where you can't say anything in risk of being politically incorrect… I'm soooo happy that in this story you can add more free thought! Yes, the Fire Lord does love Sakura but sort of like a mommy figure to, since he really loved Sururi its sort of like 'she's that last female I trust aside from my real mother' thing so naturally he wants to keep her close don't ya think? ^.^ Thanks for reviewing!


	12. Chapter 12

Thanks for the revieiwing, favoriting and the alerts people!

Disclaimer: Ok, there is no way over the cotton pickin rainbow that I will ever own Naruto.

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Chapter 12

She looked out to the moonlight, all around her fire flies, Hotaru, yes at the moment that was what she was the only ANBU operative who would dare to dress in all of this white, a hat over her head. She was a wanderer, taking any job, from anyone who requested it. But, the thing that most fascinated her, were seals they were the shields that separated, Hotaru wasn't a fighting ANBU operative, although she could, when need be, but one who undid the most complicated seals, on boxes, doors, and anything that could have a seal on it. It was a puzzle and a mind stimulant that she just couldn't resist; at least it was more interesting than any of the loud court affairs could give her.

And that very curious nature and proficiency in her job made her an efficient ANBU operative. Her neutral-ness from being a wandering nin is what made her able to stay alone, in quiet solitude where people could often find her amongst the fireflies looking up at the moon. Those who wanted to request for a job where to leave a letter at a place where she frequented, and she would find them, after. She sighed as she got up, she had a job tonight. She had to unseal a treasure box said to have jewels from the bottom of the ocean.

She jumped off the rock she had been seated on enjoying the night moon and began to run as she touched ground toward the destination of her job. Things hadn't been going well in court, and the crowding of the people was suffocating. All of the social scandals and fake smiles in hopes to tip the tables in each other's favor, all of it made her increasingly tired and she found that she rarely had time to be alone. That was the purpose of Hotaru, since accepting her Lords offer to be his advisor she had been beating people back with a bat, or so it felt like and she needed a rest.

Sururi and the others could manage in court for a while without her, they had done it before and they could do it again, not only that but in order for them to protect the Lord as they wished they needed to think on their toes on their own for once. There was no guarantee that Sakura would work with them forever, after all as someone who worked as a nin her life was always in danger. Although she would always fight to her last breath to live, she knew the high possibility of her dying on a mission, and she had ordered any of those under her that if she weren't to return in two weeks time, without any form of communication, they were to assume that she was dead.

Although she was the top of her field in seals, she was also a protector, a feeling and emotion that had transferred itself from her courtly job of protecting the Fire Lord. She began to slow down as she reached her destination going at a steady walk. She protected people, seals weren't her only occupation in this mask, but she was also a being that couldn't help but save people, of course she would only save them for the just reasons, she never let loose criminals, that was something that went greatly against her policy as a nin in general.

She felt all around her as the waiting ANBU spotted her and let her pass, she could hear their soft whispers in the dark, all of them in speculation. She didn't mind though, this was no different from court, if she merely ignored them they wouldn't approach that was human nature. She came to a gate which parted the second she stepped forward, a door not unlike many she had broken in before with her other many forms. She folded her hand together as she walked through noticing the increase in security; it was quite often that the palaces did this

It just proved that the lords were chicken, then again anyone in power always feared for their lives, even Sakura did, but she had the confidence to protect herself at any costs. She knew when to run and she knew when to fight, if you survived as long as she had in the nin world you had to, or you would have been long dead by now, lucky or not. He showed her the box, and she looked at it, it was beautiful white ivory carvings in the sides with emeralds and sapphires to brighten the look, all of them weaved together from what seemed to be white gold. Beside it he set the money down, a bag of gold coin, she picked it up for a moment the dropped it back in its place making sure that it was diffused of all tracking or listening devices, letting her chakra resonate with the metal to assure her that she was getting her fair cut of money.

Metals she found had their own chakra resonance; it applied to everything around them, sort of like a symbiosis of the world that everything was alive. Satisfied that nothing was wrong with the money she began to proceed with work.

She held a hand over the box, and the seal peeled off of it into the air, it wasn't enough to tear the seal off. No, she wasn't foolish; some seals have been rigged so that if someone were to violently take it off, it would take said person's life in a cosmic explosion. She had seen it happen before to others and she didn't want to follow after their example. She pushed her chakra into the seal in a steady stream making the words slowly peel off the paper in a process of unsealing they flew into her hand, as she memorized its contents keeping it for further use, in case she needed to use a seal like that again.

The moment the words all soaked into her palm the paper it had been written on fell off the box, she touched the smooth enamel surface, and stroked the worn jewels that lined the sides, it truly was a treasure. She scanned the box for any other underlying seal that might violently explode of she were to open it, finding none she opened the box to show its contents. In the middle sat a silver tiara with dark blue stones and pearls, if she had remembered correctly. It was called 'The Mermaids Crown'. She turned to her employer, "It is done." She watched his expression through her mask carefully as his facial expressions turned from friendly to malicious.

On cue all of the ANBU around her positioned themselves for an all out attack it seemed that she was in for a little exercise with her little job. "I thank you for your great services Hotaru-san, unfortunately I can't let you leave this place, you're too valuable to let go, you have quite the bounty on your head you see." She already knew that fact, since she always rejected an offer to work for long periods of time, and those scorned Lords aimed for her life. She disappeared the moment he shouted for the attack to proceed. She put her hands out and let the wind collect in them. Letting them to wildly lash out at any who approached her, it wasn't uncommon for someone to try and take her this way.

ANBU operative who wanted to make their name known would foolishly flock to the places she went, as one of the less fearsome and scary ANBU 9, what people called her individual selves; she was seen as an easy target. They didn't know how wrong they were, although she never killed anyone, she always won hands down. She hit the ground her legs crushing the earth beneath them, the wildly whipping air around her hitting any who didn't catch their balance fast enough. She watched as the box with the treasure she had unsealed, and the commission for the job go up in the air.

With one quick moment she had them in her grasp, and was on her way out. She made it as a policy that if she were to be attacked as compensation they had to give her both the money and whatever the job had been about. When she was outside the gates, she looked back at the destruction she had wreaked. They had been lucky, so much so that they didn't know. If she had been any of her other selves, they probably wouldn't have gotten away with just a couple of bruises and scrapes. The anger of her other selves were after all much more prominent then the person she was at the moment.

She leapt from the ground, into the trees; it was time to go back to the fireflies and her lovely solitude.

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Sakura woke from her dream of the past; it had been a while since she had that one. Then again Hotaru didn't vie for attention like her other selves did. In fact Hotaru was one of those who wished to possibly blend with the moon and never been seen or disturbed. Another part of herself, that wasn't completely her. In a way she missed that silent solitude, the way that Hotaru could be left to brood in her thoughts, about life, about the world. A true philosopher, it was what Hotaru's existence was, the ability to think calmly asses without problems, and probably the most un-human in emotions of her ANBU operatives. At the same time, Sakura didn't want to submerge into that neutral state, but it didn't make her love that side of herself any less.

Hotaru was still in there curious as ever. Like the moment Sakura had laid eyes upon Naruto Hotaru felt the Kyuubi inside of him, and had wanted to look at the seal, a twitch she had to suppress that was one thing she would deny her other self, curiosity did after all kill the cat, whether satisfaction had really brought it back was a yet-to-be proven theory. She lazily opened her eyes, at first she had expected to see the apartment she had lived in for a considerable amount of time. That is until reality came crashing down on her groggy head to remind her that she was back in the political ring.

She looked at the tatami doors; it seemed that it was dawn. Early, but it was time for her to wake. She sent out her chakra to scan the area, when she was sure it was safe, she parted the veiling that hid her in her sleep, and slipped to the floor. She had a meeting with her ANBU group, which was going to take place in a nearby safety zone of the palace. Tiredly she yawned; she stopped noticing one thing that was missing. Itachi was nowhere on the premises.

~(Itachi)~  
Itachi stood in the standard battle clothes of the court, walking up to the training ring they seemed to have. It was decent sized, but there was no forestry, no ground, it was possibly the most un idealistic for a nin to fight. Then again, this was a samurai protected state, Sakura's ANBU Corps aside. The nobles here practiced with swords, and archery, both of which Itachi was proficient with. As he walked by many who came to train themselves, they whispered, almost like the women in the market he speculated.

It was a good chance to prove his standing, force was always the most efficient method to show dominance. He held a long katana opposed to his shorter one used for quick kills. He held it one hand rather than putting it in his belt, he walked easily like a panther waiting for anyone to challenge him, knowing that someone would. At that particular moment the Fire Lord came walking in, he himself to Itachi's disappointment in normal clothes, it seemed that he would just be watching. They met eyes for a moment, a silent standoff between men. "Hey, pretty boy! You're supposed to wear that sword on your belt! Holding it makes you look weak!" He turned toward the source of the noise.

It was a man who towered over him, wearing a samurai outfit, probably one of the palace guards. It seemed that there were some stupid and foolish enough to challenge him. From the lack of his commanding posture he was not too high of a high ranking officer. It was below his standard but for now it would have to do. "Do you honestly think my beloved would choose someone weaker than her? It would explain why she would never look in your direction." Itachi knew that blow hurt, the moment he laid eyes on all of them he felt the prickle of jealousy coming off of them in waves.

Itachi had the distinct feeling that Sakura was the object of affection among many men. Although she hid her face effectively, her delicate looking hands, and gentle manner was enough to turn any man's head. Her down to earth and non catty demeanor separated her from the rest, not only that but she was the epitome of power in the country whether people knew of the other side's or not. If that wasn't enough of a turn on for a man he didn't know what was, what more if she was as pretty as she was? Really, it made Itachi speculate that she was a completely clueless child when it came to many things, he was sure that she wasn't thick. Even so the thought that any of these men wanted her, was enough to want to hide her from any prying eyes.

Possessive? Yes, it was. Obsessive? Extremely so, but those were emotions that he would never show. She was a free spirit and if he tried to catch her too suddenly she would bolt for the nearest exit door and he would never see her again. "What was that?" Itachi was slightly amused at his infuriated face, since he had met Sakura he found teasing a very fun thing to do. It seemed that he was developing 'a sense of humor' as his little brother had called it one evening when they were around the fire and Sakura had gone off to get some water from a nearby stream.

Itachi smoothly pulled out the katana, leveling it at his opponent. "Are you deaf along with overly persistent and annoying? I am very sure you heard me." The opposing man pulled out his sword, and shouted signaling his attack. Itachi would show the court what nin politics were about, it was a mind game, and it was a great show of dominance.

If you only had one trait of those traits you were made into a puppet regardless of standing in the family, only the strong survived in the Uchiha family. He was sure that here was no different. First to subdue to non-intelligent before tackling the political mind games, by doing it that way it would save him a considerable amount of time. When he beats all of the strong fighters, there would be no one to disturb him while he battled the intelligent elite.

Always save the best for last, not only that but by battling first the intelligent would think he didn't know much and underestimate his abilities. It was a system of elimination, and he would defeat all of them, all for the dominance in Sakura's attention. He disappeared before the big man's view and struck him in the legs, many could say it was dirty but before the man could completely fall, Itachi had the sword sliding back into his sheath.

He looked once more toward the Fire Lord who had an eyebrow raised; they looked at each other for a while. Itachi would have stared the man down but, he felt Sakura's chakra heading toward them. He looked toward the entrance where she would enter. Many followed his suit, and within three seconds Sakura turned the corner. She waved a beckoning hand to him, he straightened his shoulders and approached her chakra was slightly uneasy.

She pulled him down to her level, and whispered quietly in his ear. "New, information from my organization, it seems that a few Akatsuki members are here in the palace." Gently he took her hand and placed it on his arm, another sign of dominance but she was brooding too much to notice. "Tell me more."

~(Sakura)~  
"It seems that they came in last night while we were sleeping, my men only found traces of their quiet entry this morning," She sat at their dining table, Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, and Itachi listened to her patiently. "How will we deal with this?" Sasuke asked, he said it calmly but she could feel the slight underlying tension. "We'll have to investigate a bit more, but this also means that we have to speed things up a bit." She closed her eyes organizing her thoughts and what tasks needed to be split up.

She looked to Naruto, ready to receive her orders, "Naruto, you go with Sasuke and try to get back to Konoha, with word about the Akatsuki. I doubt that any of my messengers will get out of the palace alive. Leave, as soon as possible." They nodded, she turned to Kakashi, "Begin developing seals that can hold them down, assume that they have powers as strong as Naruto at his greatest. At all costs we must protect the Fire Lord and prevent Naruto or Sasuke from falling into enemy hands, is that clear?" She could see that two of the members were about to protest, but she already saw that coming.

"I need you two in Konoha, where I know you guys can keep everyone else safe. Do you expect a bunch of women and children to protect the village if any of the other nin fall? You are aware that Tsunade cannot protect 24/7 right? According to my reports only four have infiltrated the palace, and because it's the palace they won't try anything loud limiting their movements. Whereas, there are supposed to be 10 members in total, do you think the nin in Konoha in all confidence can fend off full force fighting enemy nin?"

It was silent which meant that she won the argument, "You leave immediately." They nodded and got up to get their stuff. She turned to Kakashi who was looking at her patiently. "There is a workshop somewhere in the back of this garden under the waterfall shrine that will be able to hide you from view, it's a chakra safe room that will snuff out any trace of your existence I will have my ANBU members bring you what you need. We don't want the Akatsuki to know that you're still here with us, you'll have to send a bunshin with Naruto and Sasuke to make it seem as if you left, and Itachi and I will hold down the forte."

He looked at her for a moment, "Well prepared aren't you?" She looked at the older man, scanning his facial expression, which was hard because of his half mask "Be ready for anything I say." She saw the flash of understanding behind his lone eye, and nodded. She was ready for anything, she was even ready to take this all on her own, but she was glad she had friends to back her up. As Naruto and Sasuke re-entered the room, she went up to them, and hugged them, something she rarely partook in. "Kami's speed, and may it bring you both back to Konoha safely."

The two hugged her back, Naruto with a little too much force and Sasuke a bit hesitantly at first but he returned the favor. "Tell your mother, to go into my apartment, third drawer to the left, she knows the inscription, if she doesn't remember just tell her 'think of our favorite pet name' and she'll know after that. It's a backup plan me and Itachi have devised that is only to be used in dire situation, am I clear? I'll leave it in the Uchiha hands for now." She looked at them as the nodded, "There is one of my trusted ANBU operatives outside ready to escort you to the gates of Konoha in case you need help. He might not be the best of fighters but I guarantee that he'll get you out of any sort of mess you run into."

They began to leave, "When this is all over, I want to talk to you guys a little more, is that alright?" Naruto smiled at her, "Yeah! You bet!" Sasuke just looked away; she now knew that it was a sign of embarrassment. When this was all over she would compensate them all handsomely it would only be right. The moment the door closed, she turned to a waiting Itachi, and Kakashi, she switched to the Lady Haruno who was the leader of the ANBU Corporation under her wing. "Now then, shall we begin?"

Finally! Next chapter! Sorry guys, I'm busy with college registration and trying to find a good college for me… And I've been buries by, letters, and emails, so much so that it really is getting annoying…. That and I've been working on a BLEACHXNaruto crossover cool right? XD And my Seirei ki story, I think the well of imagination isn't as generous on this story XD. And I'm working on Finding Humanity… which reminds me my Prince of Tennnis story isn't progressing at all either…. sigh

(Too many projects might just kill me XD)

To my anonymous

To: Megami_Tsunami  
It is as you wished you go another glimpse of her past selves^.^ Just to tell you if I think there needs to be a story separator I probably will throw in her past from time to time, because it really is a great interest to a lot of people ya know what I mean? ^.^ Thanks for reviewing!

TO Midnight Azure:  
I know that you're not really an anonymous reviewer since you sent me a pm, but I'm happy you like this story so much ^.^. Welcome to the world of authoring where any idea is free game(well except for the over used and already used). To be honest I wanted to contact you on a more personal means, but how am I supposed to do that when your pming is disabled? XD Anyway, thanks for the compliment it makes me really happy. To the point where you really have no idea ^.^ It goes for all of the people who say that about my story, when you gather fans like that, if you have social problems and awkwardness with people, it really lifts you up. Ideas? Anything will do, you just need to send your message across to everyone.

What ever intrigues you in a story, or an idea that has been circulating in your head for a while will do, as long as you like it enough to chase after it. Good luck with your stories, and, may you prosper! ^.^


	13. Chapter 13

Thanks for alerting, favoriting, and reviewing this story! You have no idea how much it loves you for doing so!

Disclaimer: I'll never own it will I? *looks to the owner who shakes his head no* WAaAHHH!!!

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Chapter 13

She sat on the stands, she knew that all appearances must be kept up, but she was never one to watch a sports festival these nobles seemed to love so much, then again she had to say that she was doing this to support Itachi. Although she knew that he would win in every subject, he was just that sort of overachiever, still it was boring to know the outcome of the situation and have to watch it. She desperately wanted to work on something else, but seeing as she was no longer behind a tatami screen the veil now showing a bit of her face now so she couldn't really frown without someone questioning her, and she couldn't mutter her discomfort.

Either way she chose the smarter option and fanned herself somewhere near the mouth. It was hot, and she was sure that there were many, many other more important things she could have done. She really did wish for the screen at this moment so that she could at least get rid of the more annoying paper work on her part. Oh, well she would just have Itachi help her with it later; he owed her that much for dragging her into this whole pointless tournament. "You seem restless Lady Haruno." The Fire Lord commented from beside her. She sighed, to herself before responding, yet another testosterone driven male vying for her attention, the problem was that he was part of her inner circle.

"Not at all my Lord I enjoy watching my beloved beat back, the competition." No, she didn't but the airy ways he said it made it convincing enough. "Tell me again where you found, 'your beloved'?" The question was strange and it caused her to look at the Lord before taking her attention back to the competing field. It was strange for him to inquire about her life, but seeing as this would be a detrimental part in their relationship she was obligated to tell him…. Right? "In Konoha My Lord, where else would I find such a man?"

He chuckled softly at her witty remark, and replied. "Will you be leaving us when you marry him? Lady Haruno." She knew he was pulling on her heart strings, she had taught him the whole concept of the guilt card, and sadly it was working. Was this one of the situations that applied to 'the student surpasses the teacher'? Probably, but that was only one subject, although it made her want to fear the man in the future.

As much of a little puppy he was now, she knew he would be one hell of a ruler when she got done training him. She had a feeling though that she would have to e wary around him though, she had a feeling that he would eventually know how to handle her. Something that was necessary and uncomfortable about teaching him. He knew how to get on her nerves as effectively as Itachi, although they didn't hit the same nerve, somewhere inside her they knew how to target one of them. It made Sakura realize how intolerant to people she really was.

At least people who knew how to get under her skin. "It all depends, My Lord, on your ability to rule, rest assured though that I will visit from time to time." Giving up on fanning herself she put the fan down and closed it with a quiet snap. She watched the movements of others, as they shifted and twirled their fans in the stands of the arena. She knew that they were gossiping, among some of the things that nobles liked to do was say something insulting in front of the one intended for the insult.

The simplest way to do that, the language of fans, in the court they had made up their own sort of code, since everyone had a fan it was easily learned. Currently they were betting on who would win. Their bets were on others, none of which voted on Itachi. Except for one, and that was the Fire Lord. When she looked at him questioningly, he smiled, "I trust your judgments just as I always have, My Lady." She sighed rolling her eyes before looking back to the arena, leaning further into the pillows that they provided for her.

While she had to watch this she might as well let her mind wander. Something to get her mind over the constricting clothes and the sweltering heat she was being subjected to in wearing them. Even if the summer Kimono only had three layers, three layers were enough to overheat her. She never saw the logic in intentionally torturing yourself to make yourself look pretty. But unfortunately one layer would seem like she was naked two was indecent and three was just right. She was sure that the fascination with layers was so that when men were extremely persistent and bored during this season they would enjoy spinning their lover out of their many obis that lie beneath. The stupid obi women insisted to wear, were made to wear for the sake of fashion, not for comfort, and she was sure they added on like thirty pounds at least.

The veil also was not helping a bit. She hoped Itachi got this whole thing over with before she felt like she was going to pass out from the heat. What she would give to wear what he was wearing at the moment, which was a loose t-shirt, pants, and some leather gloves. In what part of the world, she wondered was fair?! She resisted the urge to pant, but her heavy breathing didn't go unnoticed. "Is there something wrong My Lady?" the Fire Lord asked. She bit back a sarcastic remark and replied calmly, "I simply remembered why I have avoided these tournaments in the first place."

He chuckled, which didn't help her mood at the moment. "What cold words My Lady, and to think all of these men are doing their best to outdo your beloved to prove their worth." Like any one of them could, she was sure that Itachi would pretend to lose at first and then bypass them with ease; he had done that during the running, horseback riding, and arrow shooting tournaments. "With all due respect My Lord you don't have to wear three layers of heavy silk and constricting obi's on your person in this sweltering heat. While you may feel fine in your one-layered outfit, I feel like I am wearing a winter cloak in the land of the Sand.

"Would you like to try it My Lord? It will do wonders to your mood." He chuckled again, throwing his hands up in a conceding manner. "As much as I enjoy being the center of court intrigue My Lady, I will have to decline, shall I ask for a cool glass of water for you My Lady?" She didn't reply, which meant yes, he was getting to know her better, something she wasn't completely sure that she liked. Although he wasn't as fast s learner as Itachi their minds were dangerously close in intelligence to each other.

Which was never a good thing, she wanted to sigh, to think that the Fire Lord was no more than a bored little puppy when she had taken him under her wing. She had a feeling that conflict between both Itachi and Fire Lord would soon be inevitable. As much alike as they were, possessive was another thing in which they were alike. And she knew that she was considered a high commodity between the two, and she had a feeling that they would continue to compete over her attentions for a long time. Although she had never really lain with a man, she wasn't naïve, contrary to the Fire Lord and Itachi's belief; it was just a good front for her to use to get rid of another troublesome thing to do.

The last thing she needed was to pick herself out of a compromising position, having to do with affection of any kind, by acting naïve, she could reject in the slyest way and people wouldn't resent her for it. There were benefits in being ignorant that way and she was taking full advantage of that. Although it added somewhat to her desirability charm, she was able to manipulate the people to never confess to her, she stated often times more than not that she was not a great believer in love which causes men to keep their distance and merely admire from afar.

A few moments later a chilled glass of water was put in reaching distance of her hand. Stealthily she took out a piece of silver in the shape of a needle. And put it in the water as she picked it up. Carefully watching it, waiting a couple of minutes before bringing the glass to her face, the needle was black, she sighed, poisoned, she couldn't drink it.

She put it momentarily to her lips to fake a drink, and then put it down, she would knock it over later so that the Fire Lord didn't drink from it, a common mistake he often made when drinking since he always reached for his table partners drink instead of his. That and it would give her the perfect opportunity to leave her post, and tell Itachi off for dragging her to this pointless event. A few moments later, she knocked it over, quickly rising to the occasion making her apologies as the servants mopped it up, and excusing herself as she heard the quiet tittering of her so called 'folly'.

She approached her so called 'intended', and when he spotted her he made his way toward her a confident smile, that seemed oddly unnatural plastered onto his face. "What is it you wish Ma Cherie?" he asked holding the sheath of his sword in one hand. "Hurry up and beat who you want to beat, Weasel dear, we have lots of paperwork pending for us, people to find, and Akatsuki to bust." She felt the need to remind him, either that or it was the heat getting the better of her. Now she knew why men thought that women were weak creatures she felt the urge to sway in place the way the heat was washing over her in waves.

He smiled at her sharp words; he was making fun of her! If she weren't in front of a crowd she was sure she would have jumped him. But appearances she had to keep up her freaking appearances. "Don't worry Ma Cherie it will be done in due time." He was lying; she had the primal urge to growl at him. As other men approached she bit out in a sweet, sweet voice that was bound to make her teeth hurt. "Good luck with the tournament Weasel dear, I'll be sure to pay you back for winning _EVERY SINGLE_ subject, now _DON'T_ disappoint me my dear." She made sure to emphasize those words, and rile the competition; she wasn't lying when she said that she would repay him.

She watched at he got her meaning, that right she would reward him, but she never said that reward would be a nice one.

~(Itachi)~

She was angry, understandably so, she was sweating and it seemed that the heat was getting to her brain. He had the distinct feeling that her divine punishment would be more annoying than their trip over here, she didn't understand that he was trying to eliminate his competition. He was trying to do it, with half motivated people, but the way she had emphasized those words so clearly, fired the competition up, he was sure that it was on purpose. Although it wouldn't be that much more troublesome, he knew that he would have to take just that much more effort to defeat them.

He watched as she politely lowered her head to those behind him, who were probably blushing, as she turned away from them, flattered that she had paid them any mind. She was a good instigator, and he had under estimated her in that aspect, but then again, she was a nin, and a nin who didn't know how to do that wasn't a very effective one. He turned, and went back to the arena, his Lady asked him to hurry the job, although he wouldn't show everything of what he was made of, he would do his best so that his Sakura blossom didn't wilt under the sun. Maybe then she wouldn't go as hard on him. He pulled out his sword setting the sheath down on the ground ready for his new and refreshed opponent.

Judging from his muscle mass and stance he wasn't too experienced but the feral way he had grinned, meant that he was confident or over confident in his abilities. Either way, he was nowhere near Itachi's present level, if his opponent didn't wisely resign after the first few moments Itachi dubbed them a novice, only a good and experienced warrior knew when to resign against Itachi, lest he face complete and total humiliation. Which meant that Itachi didn't have to pay much attention to this fight, onto different matters, they had found out who the Akatsuki members were.

Although many servants are hired during summer time to the palace, the people they had suspected who weren't under Sakura's ANBU operative workers there were exactly four who fit the profile. They were all under henges although there were many who were like that, from other countries as Sakura had pointed out. Every country had a spy in another country and Itachi had no right to challenge that rule. Although there was no such thing in Konoha, Sakura pointed out that by getting rid of any spy that was inside the palace was suggesting that the Lord was planning an attack on any one village, and that it would be suspicious not to allow them to stay there.

Itachi could see the logic to it, and found that she was right, although he had to deal with his clan politics that was something between family, here was a different playing field. He chose to act as the front Sakura put up, so that many paid attention to him instead of her so that she may work behind the scenes more easily. She too was an ANBU general and he respected that she knew her home the best and knew the best way how to handle a situation; he was just there to support.

Although he hated to play second in command it was necessary for this situation, if she let him take command she loses the respect of her men. Something as a commander that she couldn't allow, and he kept his role silent as she talked to her ANBU troops the night before. Itachi knew the devotion they had to her, her soft and caring tones. Sort of like a steel matriarch something he knew that she would make to perfection. If she were ever to have children, his children of course, she would make a mother more protective than his own, a concept that he had to smile at.

He could only imagine what their children turned out to be. He blocked and incoming blow from his opponent and disarmed him in one blow, easily, and Itachi flaunted it. He knew people would hate him for it but he figured that he wouldn't be coming back here for a very long while. He rarely took long term missions like this. This was the only exception; he was after all courting one of the most difficult women in all the land.

Apparently that was what many called her. It made Itachi covet her even more, she was a virtually unattainable being that everyone wanted, he knew that pride was getting the better of him, and if Sakura ever heard these thoughts she would do her utmost to send him flying through a brick wall. He walked off the arena square, waiting for the next fight to continue and show him his next opponent, he let his gaze wander over the crowd, servants and masters alike mingling, it was in the far corner that he spotted a dispute with the samurai guard.

He stepped backward into the shade, and put a hand on his brow to hide his sharingan changed eyes. It was one of their suspects talking to the co-commandeer of the Shinsengumi force. From what Sakura had informed him about he was part of the list of candidates that the court would have forced her to marry in the end if Itachi hadn't stepped in. He eyed the man through his improved vision, he had quite a bit of chakra, but Itachi was sure that he had no idea how to use it. Samurai were foolish and did not know the concept of using that power to attack.

In Itachi's mind he traced the man's features to memorize him, at any time the court could demand that Sakura marry him, and in the end Itachi could see it taking a turn for the worse. He looked like the pushy type after all, not too many brains but unpredictable. The strong jaw told Itachi that he was a seasoned close-mouthed fighter, although he was around Itachi's stature which suggested unexercised muscle, Itachi could see the well toning, his white cropped hair that much resembled Kakashi's was stark against the shadowed wall where he and the Akatsuki member were talking in hushed tones.

Itachi knew that the man would put up quite the fight if Itachi didn't watch himself. He turned his attention on the Akatsuki, seeing right through his henge. He committed to memory his girlish features, noting that there was something strange about this young red haired grey eyed man who worked under an unassuming henge with average looks, a face that could easily be forgotten in the field.

If Itachi recalled from the BINGO book that sat in his pack under a genjutsu that suggested that nothing was there, he was Sasori of the Sand a puppet master that had flown out of Suna's hands before they could apprehend him for his demented human puppet art. Itachi immediately turned off his sharingan the moment his name was called, and headed toward the arena to face his next opponent. Not, surprised at all to meet, the man he had been observing moments earlier. "Uchiha, Itachi, a pleasure to meet you." He said politely and in an aloof manner that suggested his frank boredom.

He had to show that it would be unwise to challenge an Konoha ninja, he was sure that was what Sasori had been informing the man before him, "Kummori, Ryoutaro, prepare to fall under my blade, Konoha scum, I'll see to it that the noble Lady wakes up and realizes that she is better suited to someone like me, because someone like you doesn't deserve her." It was a cocky sentence, but seeing the determined look in the commander's eyes brought Itachi to the reality that this man could actually provide him with a challenge.

That wouldn't stop him though, Itachi smirked a confident and cocky uplift of the mouth and replied without missing a beat, "I don't want to hear that from someone who has never even seen Ma Cherie's face."

Done! A new rival arrives!! XD Thanks for reading! *looks at a calendar* !!!! Sorry I haven't updated this story in 4 days XD I hope you enjoy the new chapter!!!

To my anonymous  
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To angel897: There ya go my dear! The next update! ^.^ Thanks for reviewing!!!


	14. Chapter 14

Thankies for reading reviewing, favoriting, and alerting!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!!!

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Chapter 14

Sakura watched Itachi pick his own little dog fight, although she didn't mind him asserting his dominance, she understood that it was many of those guy things that she would never fully understand, but the matter of the situation at the moment was who he was picking his fight with. But, she did have to appreciate his valor, she always knew the man was crazy, but this brought up a whole new level. Not bad, she felt a twitch go up in her cheek.

At least he would entertain her a bit maybe it would serve as a good distraction from the sweltering heat and all of the frippery these nobles so loved to indulge in. She tapped her fingers against her leg, and waited as the flags went down, and for Itachi to break loose. She wondered how Kummori, Ryoutaro would react, she knew the man wasn't stupid, and that he was strong, in fact if it weren't for the fact that he was on a different sides and had different views from her a long standing relationship might have worked in due time, but the fact and truth of the matter was that he wasn't.

He was also incredibly arrogant, although she could have mended that with a few fights of her own, Lady Haruno of the High Court was not made to be a fighter. She was sure that the council members who supported the samurai faction in fighting would like him for her future husband and she knew he would be pushed to be her husband when they found out that Itachi was a shinobi. Although she knew that their proposal in the matter would hold up as tough as a flimsy tower of cards. They never were good at uniting which is why Sakura had gotten away with repealing a lot of those acts that they tried to so foolishly defend.

Over the course of her two year instatement as a counselor to the Lord, she had repealed many things in order to break new light into the world, such as supporting the roles of women and promoting them, and empowering them. Although she knew her influence didn't reach the most rural of places it was a start to this country's slow reform, and in order for her to continue doing such a good job in moving the Fire Country a couple steps ahead of the rest, they needed no conflict. And the samurai the stupid fools wished to challenge that balance. She knew her tsctic with Kumu had only hindered their plans for a while, Sakura knew that they would corrupt another one of the ladies, and then set her on the foolish Lord who sat beside her.

It made Sakura's head hurt, she glanced at Itachi in the field, and Ryoutaro who fought him with a fierce expression a stark contrast to Itachi's calm coolness, that seemed to offset any enemy. She knew that Itachi was holding back, but she noticed that his opponent was doing the same; they were sizing each other up on the battle field. Despite Ryoutaro's shouting and declarations she could hear clearly from the stands, Ryoutaro had the skill and experience to back it up, and she wondered how the match would turn out, seeing as she had instructed her beloved not to use any ninjutsu's or genjutsu's there was no need for him to encourage the council's pushing's to marry another.

The council of course did not want her to marry someone they did not know, and with Ryoutaro under their thumb she knew that they would push him forward and throw him in her path… she thought of the previous times she had met the man. Kind, strong a bit rough around the edges but would make a good husband, although he was easily manipulated, and here in the married world it was the man who did all of the talking. Something Sakura would never accept. She knew that if she chose Itachi she would be free of that sort of restriction, and although the Uchiha clan was a hard group she knew how to handle them from what she had heard about clan life, it really wasn't too much different from Court life.

Then again, she wanted rest from Court not a recreation, no matter though, it was something she could deal with later. She wondered at the fact that their match was taking a long time, "Nervous?" the Lord asked from her right, she scoffed lightly as befits a Lady of her station lazily waving a hand in the air, "Hardly," she told him, she had full confidence that Itachi could take what Ryoutaro could handle, it was just a matter of getting out of it unscathed. Now that she would like to see, Ryoutaro as raw in form he was with chakra she was sure that he unconsciously knew how to infuse it into his blade which made him an unpredictable element.

She smirked, as Ryoutaro slashed and a wave of dark blue emitted from his sword and went into the way of a blocking Itachi. There was a reason she hadn't tried to take Ryoutaro down just yet, and this was another reason why. Although she had nothing against the man personally she acted for what was best for the country. The way Itachi twitched slightly alerted her to the pain he was feeling; strangely enough he was still maniacally smirking. It was his ego that made him do it, "Don't lose on me now Weasel-dear, you promised you would make this end for me." She said smiling as she did the heat barely but an annoyance now. She was caught up in more interesting matters; it was a novel experience to see Itachi sweat a little plus she knew he had the stresses of being here to let go of. "What amuses you my Lady?" Asked the slightly interested and lazily tired man beside her, even though he couldn't see the spark in her eyes she knew he saw the devious smirked on her face.

"Oh, nothing My Lord, only, I've just now realized the interest you and the others share for this particular event." "Oh?" he asked his tone smooth and lazy, "Well isn't that wonderful." Her attention was brought back to the field she watched as Itachi gave the final blow and brought Ryoutaro down, slightly sweating from the heat. He looked up to the tiers where the people cheered and looked at her. He did say that he would end it as fast as possible. She tapped her wrist as if to indicate the time, his eyes twinkled as he walked offstage past those who were collecting Ryoutaro's body. A job well done, Sakura had to say, a job well done.

~(Itachi)~

He smirked to himself in justified satisfaction. He had won, true the Ryoutaro character had proven himself a bit of a difficulty, but he expected no less from someone who was chosen to keep Sakura down, although Itachi was sure she would never go down until the bloody end. The bloodiest end, he knew how much she loved her independence and ability to say what she wanted and when. She fought hard for it and it's that battle that had her in his sights today. He wondered where that fear of independence being taken away stemmed form, that undeniable will to get stronger than everyone else.

Her un-relenting manner that caught this eye in the first place, and it was features like this that he saw continually throughout all of her different characters shown that made him slightly more confused than he was before of her. Interesting, he had never met a subject like her who continued to baffle him so. It was a refreshing yet strange experience. He wondered what prize she would give him, although he was sure that it would be among one of the few experiences with her he wouldn't like.

From her sweetly sounding voice he knew that he was in for something big but detrimental in their relationship, although he didn't know what. Sakura wasn't a predictable person, although her thought patterns were easier to read than Naruto's there wasn't much of a difference. He looked up to her; calmly she was conversing with the Fire lord. He felt a possessive streak over take him, he didn't want her near the other man. He clenched his sword slightly harder, but before he could analyze any further his name was called. He turned back to the arena, he needed to finish this quickly, not only for his and her mental health, but he had to tell her about the Akatsuki here.

-

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They waited in the shadows of the trees hidden by the leaves just as a pair of guard samurai walked right under them. This was her terms of 'reward' and it certainly was a treat she was showing another side of herself that he was not familiar with. She was dressed in a fools outfit, granted that it was a mix of black to white and the shades in between, her hair pulled back in a high pony tail, he couldn't see her expression under the manically smiling mask but her knew that it was that of contemplation.

About what, Itachi didn't know. She sprang from her place in the tree without making a sound and sailed overhead, her outfit shifting cleverly to let her blend in with the shadows, he could hear a ghost of a chuckle come from her as she flipped through the air. He had never seen such a daring ANBU operative, but not only were her movements quick but they were unnecessary, Itachi was sure it was to goad the enemy into making rash actions. But there was a cold sense to this other her; he felt a sort of cold sensation coming from her. Itachi followed after her taking from the shadows, arriving to her point.

There was something eerie about her. Although she didn't say a thing it showed in her actions. The way she chortled occasionally, it was a cold laugh a stark contrast than her usual throaty chuckle or courtly laughter. This side of her was by far much more dangerous than her other sides. Itachi had the distinct impression that she was mad. Then again this might be the best way to combat an Akatsuki, her unpredictable movements and strange ways in this form would unsettle any fighter opposite of her.

At this point in time, even now as he crouched beside her he felt slightly unsettled, he felt the fine hairs of the back of his neck rise, a good thing he also had his ANBU mask in place, he could feel his features shift into that of a frown. She dampened her chakra to the barest minimum and pointed through the tree leaves. Itachi activated his sharingan to look through the henges that they wore. He pointed them out, and she nodded. He had already informed her of their identities. The one named 'Deidra' and the one named 'Sasori' were having a discussion. He heard the quiet sliding of metal, he glanced to her she had two reflective discs, with the other hand he made hand signs and threw the two card shaped discs into the tree trunk. It was almost like a summon but Itachi could tell that these weren't summoned beings; they were in fact normal animals.

He heard her giggle coldly, and softly. She tapped her neck where her black collar and transmitter were. A small compartment opened, and she took out two small pins, they looked like data chips. Gently she put them in inconspicuous places of the owl and the bat that she had before her, and then pushed them off. He watched as they circled over head of the two Akatsuki members catching their attention for a moment and then disappearing once again into the night, but Itachi knew that there was more to this trick.

If he looked hard enough the remnants of her chakra in the two were in a bush not far from where they were discussing, interesting he had never seen an ANBU utilize this sort of skill before. He continued to watch them, intently as another entered their meeting place, a blue in color man, Hoshigake Kisame, if Itachi remembered the BINGO book correctly. From beside him, he heard her quietly shift to sit comfortably on the tree branch, she looked down intently, and he could feel the coldness of her personality come off of her in waves. He had a bad feeling, and without provocation she leapt toward the group of Akatsuki, and for that one moment in time Itachi felt fear.

~(Sakura)~

She laughed quietly to herself as she let herself fall, maybe she could nab one of these guys and convert them into a follower. She sent a kunai to the opposite trees in both directions a thin wire running between the two, expertly she used that as her standing ground, she was sure she had scared Itachi. While another one of her selves would have been appalled at the blatant disregard toward a teammate, Watanuki enjoyed it, she was a fool after all, she was supposed to trick people and scare them a bit. Since when was Itachi any different?

Quietly she giggled to herself, as she felt the slightly muffled flare of his chakra that carried to her but not enough to alert their prey that stood beneath them. He was a professional through and through. Sakura-or shall we say Watanuki? Smiled from behind her mad hatter mask, it really was the first time this character had to work with someone else; needless to say it was a novel experience. She watched them from directly above them balancing on the thin wire, her outfit shifting to make her a part of the shadows. She had always liked life on the edge, to the point where your blood pumped so hard, the adrenaline high was intoxicating.

It was fun to walk the thin line of death. She listened to their conversation, with a less than avid interest, whatever they said was getting recorded in the data chips she had put on those animal. The only reason they had went without being shot down by the Akatsuki was because of the fact that they barely had any chakra remnants of an owner. Sakura wondered, though how far could she push it. Before Itachi snapped that is. The thought brought another bought of bubble laughter to her lips.

It was a shame that the Akatsuki who worshipped the demon god 'Jashin' wasn't here then she really could have had fun. No matter she was intended to have her fun anyway, plus she wanted to see how her other self's 'beloved' would handle this new development. She wanted to see for herself what her other side had chosen for a husband, and just because her other sides agreed with her choice, didn't mean that Watanuki did. She looked predatorily at that Akatsuki, it was her turn to try her hand at a henge. After all she hadn't been able to utilize that particular skill in a while.

She didn't want to get rusty either. She let herself fall back and into the dark trees where she shifted her clothing never making a sound, the moment she hit the ground she made a jusu to change her appearance, let's see if the Akatsuki had something against beautiful women. The soft poof of the atmosphere allowed her to take form of another. At the moment whoever laid eyes on her would see a long haired blonde, with bluish eyes in a colorful kimono slightly confused and a bit tipsy from the evening's events. Surely no man, no matter what organization could resist such a temptation.

Quickly she summoned a clone of her ANBU operative self, and from the safety of the trees she knew Itachi was watching. How cute, he was at a loss of what to do. He was lucky, lucky that the other side of her didn't bring out Kage, now Kage, there was a loose cannon. Kage probably would have charged them all, without hesitation and on pure quietly stirring rage. At very least, Watanuki was using her head to get through this one no matter how dangerous.

She winked to the distant Itachi who sat in the trees, at a loss of what to do. She glanced around, and let herself trip on something, "Kyaa!" she screamed out effectively spraining her ankle on a root. Her clone approaching her menacingly, and pitifully she quivered like a scared rabbit. She began to whimper. A moment later, she was surrounded by many henges, she smirked secretively to herself, her clone counterpart looked at her for a moment, and then disappeared. All the while she herself began to let tears fall.

No matter what a man said, he was naturally protective of something pretty; it was something all men did. The Fire Lord, Itachi, and now even these men would bend to the will of a particularly naïve and pretty courts woman. "Are you alright?" someone asked, holding out a kind hand. Fleetingly she looked up, letting her now blue eyes catch the light of the moon, "T-thank y-you." She said quietly, as if she were truly terrified. Her tone didn't even ring false. Gently she placed her hand in the other mans, in this form she had removed herself of all calluses that might give her away. If someone were to test her, she would be no use in fighting but sewing and playing an instrument would be her forte.

"What happened?" she looked up to the man who helped her up so gently. She sniffed, as if to gather her wits, "I-I don't know, o-one moment I was in the Palace inter chamber and then I was here, with that strange person looking over me!" She flinched as she put pressure on one foot. Making a small sound, to stifle the cry of slight pain, "I seem to have injured myself." She put a little more weight on the sturdy shinobi who was dressed as a samurai guard. With the little pin she had set in her Kimono sleeve she slipped it into his clothing, it was a small recording and tracking device.

When she felt the small device snap into the cloth without a sound, now she had to get out of there. Being between three rogue shinobi capable of taking cities was not very comforting, even from the mad Watanuki's point of view, although it had been fun fooling them, and she knew that this form wouldn't last for long. They were after all shinobi, and would see through the henge sooner or later, although she knew that they would be stunned by the out appearance for a while. Almost as if they had read her mind, a cool kunai was placed against her throat.

"Show your true form, kunoichi." A cool voice said from behind her, from the voice pattern and lack of warm in his skin, she supposed that this was the supposed, 'Puppet Master Sasori.' She contemplated acting innocent, but from the looks of the others faces that possibility was slim that they would believe her, she smiled. And she scoffed, "Found out already huh?"

(A/N I planned on ending it here but seeing as I haven't updated in a while….)

~(Itachi)~

He didn't like this feeling, this waiting anxiety this new her was giving him, when they got to safety he would remind himself to wring her neck. She had just thrown a wrench into his mentality and his plans. In a way though he had to admire her all the more for doing so, that didn't change the fact that he did not like this 'Watanuki' ANBU operative. So he watched almost helplessly as he Akatsuki approached her in that henge form, although it was a good appearance he knew that she would be found out soon enough.

He tensed his muscles ready to fish her out at any moment, Itachi crept closer to them to hear, "Found out already huh?" the words sent a thrill through him as he saw the kunai in the distance against her pale white skin. Just them she poofed into her normal self, flipping easily from their grasp, cols laughter emitted from her throat continuous and almost innocent like a child's, it sent a new wave of goose bumps against his skin. "A message from my Master." She told them, green leaves beginning to stir around her. This her seemed strange, and not a moment later a gentle hand grasped his shoulder.

It was Sakura who looked down at her clone with him, relief washed through his system. They watched calmly as the Akatsuki sent the Kunai straight into her clone's chest. "You will never win." It said before it poofed out of existence. As they cursed, Sakura lead them out of the unsteady ground, he saw the purpose of this mission. It didn't abate his anger any less. Even if it was to warn potential enemies, telling them to back off, and a way to show Itachi a new her… He tried to calm himself, trying not to snap before they arrived on her, little compound given by the Fire Lord as her ANBU headquarters.

The moment they landed on safe ground this other side told him, "You did well, shinobi. I see why my other sides picked you. Not a rash action about you is there?" It was said in an amused voice which angered him even further. All the while he took off his mask, his sharingan reacting with his overflowing anger. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her to the ground, he knew that she let him. "What was the meaning of that? Why did you intentionally do that?" She laughed a high laugh, one that was a sure sign of insanity, "Tell me shinobi do you know the purpose of this mission?" she asked him, her words, slipping across his skin coolly like; he was running an ice cube against it.

He didn't answer, his anger being too great, that it became in impossibility to do so. "Not only did I manage to get a recorder and tracker on one of them and send two of my less used summons to tail them, I managed to trick them. As the person I am that in itself is a mission success. As part of the one you love, you also had to learn me, or do you wish to back down from that marriage proposal you had given us? Isn't learning me-us your purpose in falling in love? The fact that you can't figure through 'us' makes you curious and want to know us extensively." As the logic was played out for him, he calmed himself, "What do you mean by 'us'?" he asked, at the moment this was more to his interest, she had gotten out alive, and unscathed and for now that was the only thing that kept him from locking her away forever.

"Do you know why the 'ANBU 9' was created? Weasel-dear?" the usage of his nickname unnerved him, it made Itachi want to reply, but he found that he couldn't, he had yet to find the reason for that particular development in her life. Why had she created so many other parts of herself and purposely separated them when she would have been stronger as a whole?

"Do you know the reason why, the moment I remove this mask I become someone different? Why it always seems as if we're hiding something from you? Just as you try to hide yourself from us? Do you ever wonder why we never share our past? From what you've concluded, we're alike. But, the thing is Weasel-dear. We're so different! An infinity of things separate us, and that's where the interest lies. It's why we both look at each other; we try to see our differences and what match. Nothing more shinobi, nothing less, do you wish to find out? " Watanuki asked amusement laced her tone; Itachi looked at her sharply through the slitted eyes of the mask. "How far, Weasel-dear, are you willing to sink into the psyche of our mind?"

He didn't say a thing; he knew that he shouldn't answer this trickster side of her. If her testimony was right, and she was a different person, Watanuki was the type to mentally disturb her opponent with questions like that, and not answer them just for the hell of it. Her other sides however were different, if he pressured them just enough he knew he would get a semblance of an answer from her, as vague and guarded as it was. He reached down and gently removed the mask from her face. Green met black both in guarded interest. Her manner changed and she had once again returned to the 'Haruno, Sakura' he knew. Her eyes were bravely looking up at him as if she had done nothing wrong.

He wondered how many times how close had she come to loosing herself from another one of her sides, for their emotions were as strong if not stronger than what she expressed normally. She was an unexpectedly fragile in some ways; it made her seem so human. At that alone a rare and tender smile made its way to his face, she really was such a strange and wonderful woman. How far was he willing to sink? A strange question, but the Sakura before him should have known, that he was willing to sink as far as it took to obtain his goal.

All the questions her other self had taunted him with ran through his head but he found that he couldn't bring himself to ask even one, all of it would come out in due time. This was a strange test of his loyalty and persistence, strange that another side of her was trying to drive him away and see how much he could take. Anger now gone, he leaned down to kiss her.

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Done! 4,376 words of typing! Oh well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!! Sorry for the late update! I got distracted with the series I was reading and restarting on reading the Prince of Tennis….. Man, why does this sound so similar to Kakashi when he arrives late and says, "Sorry! I got lost on the road to life!" XD anyway Thanks for reading!!! Please review!

To my anonymous:  
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To Wow: Perceptive aren't you? Ideas are slowly starting to close themselves off from me… Is it stress? I'm not too sure at the moment ^.^… Sorry to keep you waiting, but Thanks for reviewing!!! This story –since it is alive- loves you all the more for being so worried about it!!!


	15. Chapter 15

Thankies for reading, reviewing, alerting, and favoriting! The story loves you all the more for doing so!

Disclaimer: Sad isn't it? I own nothing!!

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Chapter 15

His lips were surprisingly hard, she wondered if that was one of the many things he had worked on in order to keep his body fit, but at the moment she couldn't think all too clearly and analyze the situation, for he was drowning her in a river of his own passion that tricked down to her filling her reserves. For the self contained court lady and nin she had always been Sakura was coming dangerously to a breaking point, and it was at that, that she wondered, what she was breaking? Sakura herself was unsure of what it was. She felt the need to protest, it was hardly proper for her to be kissing someone in the open on the soft grass.

But those protests died, with every movement he made; she wanted this feeling to last forever. Despite being fragmented, broken and confused as she was, he accepted her, although she knew that it was that very thing that interested him the most. He liked the fact that she was broken and unwilling to change that. And she loved him for loving her, she wanted to hold him closer but found herself unable to, he had her pinned against the ground, and although she knew that she was strong enough to push him off without any problem she didn't she would much rather bask in the undivided attention he provided her with.

The unrelenting possessiveness he held her with, although she knew that his possessiveness was no different from any other mans she knew that he respected her wishes and wouldn't stop her from her goals, knowing that she would fight him to the last breath for her way. He knew that her passion amused and captivated him, as his did her. She closed her eyes from the overhanging moon that framed his perfect features and concentrated on the feelings he stirred within her. The passion the confusion the possessiveness, she felt it all and accepted it readily.

She wanted this to last forever even as his gently hold turned into a fierce hug to hold her closer to him, and in time although he had stopped kissing her he held her tightly from behind, as if to calm her, or to think things out. They didn't move for a long time, but Sakura felt as if time had stopped specifically for them even as the darkened sky began to lighten to the suns approaching light. "Had enough?" she asked him gently with the incomplete intention to get out of his grasp. "Not even close." He told her as he buried his face into her shoulder blade allowing her to look out to the horizon.

Funny those mere months ago she would have never imagined falling in love, something she had always been slightly afraid of. The feeling hadn't fallen short of her expectations, she never thought that she could care for another like she did Itachi, she never thought for a moment that she could live without a certain someone, for she had always been alone in this shallow world, and it seemed that with Itachi she had been taken down from the clouds of indifference to his dark and deep embrace, she wondered if he felt the same. She hadn't been lying when her other self had asked how far Itachi was willing to fall into her love, her personalities and the bottomless ocean that was her.

"Sakura." She leaned into him, "Yes?" she asked as they watched the slowly lighting sky, "Tell your other selves, that I'm willing to fall as far as it takes." The words touched her; she smiled, "… I think that they're well aware of that." From inside her she could feel Watanuki laughing at his bold statements, as well as the others who lived within her, she too felt the lighthearted laughter of theirs.

"I see." He told her, his deep voice laughing as well. By now the light was fully up, her grey clothes stark against the green neatly trimmed grass, in the distance the water fountain bamboo making impact as the water overflowed. She wanted to stay that way forever listening to nature, but there was many things that she and to do before she could ever contemplate a happy ending for herself, a country of people came before her own joy. She tried to get up but he held her down to him, "Just a little longer." He whispered into her ear, "Spoiled thing aren't you?" she asked, a bit teasingly, she was slightly tired from being up all night.

"Of course." He purred into her ear, making her want to laugh a little. Knowing that it would only encourage him she didn't though. Gently she removed her gloves, before pinching his skin sharply causing her to loosen his grip and allowing her to slip out. A moment later she was standing and on the wooden flooring of her little place in the palace. "Work comes first Weasel dear, when we get that done, I'll spoil you as much as you want." She told him, he was still on the grass a feral smile came to his lips at the promise. "With what Ma Cherie?" he asked her. She let her hair down, and tousled it seductively, smiling, "Why anything you want Weasel dear, but the job comes first before we do anything."

She told him, "Than what was that just a moment ago Ma cherie?" he asked her referring to the kiss. She turned to her room, looking back smiling mischievously, "Incentive of course, I need to get you motivated somehow, or it wouldn't be any fun." She knew baiting him with the one thing a man always wanted was like playing with fire, but she knew that, that alone was enough to make him work to the equivalence to that of Konoha's armies. Not only that, but it would let her look forward to after this whole thing ended.

They were after all planning to get married, not only would it be beneficial for the nins standing in court but it would be beneficial to his family, there would be no complaints. She fingered her clothes pushing aside her current thoughts, by now her owl and bat should be collecting sufficient enough information, she knew that she would have to eventually fight one of the Akatsuki members aware that they would be a constant threat to Konoha, and herself as a high councilor, she knew that with them in the vicinity there was a high chance that there would be an attack on her life. She was disliked by people in court, although most admired her, many also hated her for their admiration.

She knew that if they couldn't convert her for the samurai causes then they would try to kill her, she hoped that they would only send one for the job she preferred to pick them off one by one, she wasn't foolish to think that she could take them all on, and since they worked in groups at most she hoped that it would be two at most, Itachi would be able to handle one with his sharingan. She knew that Itachi had gotten to Tsukiyomi, by killing his best friend Shisui when Shisui was for the usurp of power with Madara, and when Itachi had to massacre the part of the Uchiha clan that was for Madara and his causes. Although Madara himself had gotten away Itachi had bore it all.

She knew that she wasn't alone in the darkness of this world. She knew that he could easily follow the dark side of politics and knew that he was merely following her lead in a sort of bad cop good cop sort of way. She approached the bathhouse knowing that maidservants waited for her, even if the afterglow of being with Itachi hadn't fully worn off, she had a job to do, and not even the ministrations of Itachi could stop her.

As tempting, to do whatever with her panther like lover was.

~(Itachi)~

He knew that he needed to get Kakashi, himself, and Sakura away with the Akatsuki, he knew that she didn't want to face a battle within the palace and if possible he wanted to get rid of one of the Akatsuki now, from what he had heard from her sources Danzo was on the move, and Ororchimaru not far behind him. Itachi sighed it seemed that they were being captured around from all fronts, although he had heard that Naruto and Sasuke had made it back to Konoha safely with the information Itachi knew that their forces were spread thin and Tsunade was trying to cover up for it despite the fact that they were trying to seem as if everything were normal.

Itachi had already sent word to his mother about everything trusting that she would inform the stubborn Uchiha council and get everything armed. Despit his mothers soft appearance Itachi knew that she was the true brains behind the Uchiha clan. Although the old men there weren't aware of it she always cleverly twisted them to her will without batting a black eyelash. Itachi knew that Mikoto Uchiha was no one to underestimate although Itachi found it funny that his father and brother did on a daily basis.

Foolish as that was, Itachi knew that Mikoto let them do so without dispute, Itachi could feel the time at hand approaching very quickly, and lately it had set Sakura on the edge, as well as she hid it, she couldn't fully keep her feelings from him, and from her anxiety fed his. He could feel that all hell was ready to break loose. He had a feeling that she was setting things up all for tonight, and at the moment she was making arrangements for the Fire Lord to be safe. And while she battled it out in the council room Itachi was preparing the room where they would guard his lordship.

"Why is it that Lady Haruno loves you?" Itachi looked up from what he was doing as he laid things out just as Kakashi had set out in the blue prints, at the moment the other nin was preparing other things with the ANBU Sakura put under her command. The Fire Lord sat on his pillows looking curiously at Itachi. "Must I answer your lordship?" Itachi asked, knowing that this inevitable confrontation was coming up. Itachi wasn't used to being talked down to as his position in Konoha was high, here though Itachi knew that the man before him had all of the power.

The man smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to seem rude, it's only that, I've known her for so long, she has rejected so many men before you, what makes you so special?" Itachi felt slightly offended by his words the sarcastic tint they had to them irked him. Then again he should expect nothing less from a court bred man such as the Fire Lord. "Then may I ask your lordship, why is it you don't seem to want her fly free from your grasp? When clearly she belongs to me and Konoha among other nin who would better appreciate her there instead of this gilded cage so prettily constructed for her?" Itachi saw a tint of a frown in the man's face.

Just because Itachi hadn't shown his ability to play the courts did not mean that he couldn't be on par with Sakura. "She was this courts first, Lord Itachi I see no reason why she should go away now, not when she has so much going for her." Itachi wanted to smile, and a bit of it came out, the Lord had fallen easily into his word play. "Don't you mean for yourself? Lordship? With her here you can do as you wish, it is sad to think that a man cannot protect himself without having to hide behind a woman's skirts."

He knew that the truthful wound to the man's pride would provoke more action from him. "What about you Lord Itachi? If you marry her you gain considerable power, as she is my right hand at most times. Exactly what did you do to make her turn her head toward you? Admittedly you are strong but what makes you so special that she would choose you over the fine men of the court? Why has she chosen someone out of my comforting domain for someone like you?" Itachi could see the childish statements of his, and Itachi knew that this man was incredibly territorial as he was.

"Why would I need to marry her for power, as you so brutally put it your Lordship when I have all the power that I'll ever need for a lifetime in my village? Maybe she chose me and not you because I only wish to know her, while you seek to use her for your own safety, to her you are merely a child, does it hurt your pride that you have yet to be treated as a man, Lordship?" Itachi knew clearly that the man was half in love with Sakura as well as saw the girl as a sort of mother figure that could protect him.

"Did you really expect her to live her life alone, without another to support her? As strong as she is, she is human and she cannot keep that up for long without losing herself in the river of stress that this job provides without a solace to depend on." Itachi saw the man turn various colors, first red at the jab at his standing as a man and then a slight white when Itachi reminded him of the loneliness that came hand in hand with her job, unable to trust those around her knowing that it was usually for an ulterior motive.

The Fire Lord before him looked considering, Itachi knew his words provoked thought. "Do you really think that the courtly smiles and gossip are enough to satisfy her? Why is it you think that she always took missions outside of the Palace, if not to have a break?" Itachi nudged the thoughts along, Itachi wanted the other man to completely give up on Sakura and relinquish his hold onto Itachi. Itachi was determined to hold her safe and keep her for as long as he could. Despite her thoughts of not letting him get in her way, Itachi like his mother knew how to twist even the most powerful to his will, and Sakura would be no different, he was smart not to directly deny her wants.

However Itachi knew that a clever play on words, if skillful enough, did well to twist one to another's will without dispute. As intelligent as Sakura was Itachi knew that he was subtly much more manipulative than she was, from what he had seen she tended to like being blatantly honest with a playful tint to her voice, she didn't really like it when she had to use complicated word play to get things done, she had found that at most times it was better to use brute force. After prolonged time with her Itachi was beginning to see the differences and was beginning to be able to paint a clearer picture of her in his mind. Through the occasionally crack that she showed him of her broken selves he knew that he was getting closer and closer to the being that was essentially her.

Prideful, possessive, emotionally contained, intelligent and kind, all of these things he was beginning to understand even more, and as he had expected she never ceased to fascinate him to no end. As he looked even deeper into her eyes he knew that he was getting closer and closer to the bottom of her layers and be the only one to know her for what she truly was. He wanted to be the first, and hopefully the last of whom would know her. "You are indeed a scary man Lord Itachi, I expect no less from someone Lady Haruno has chosen."

"I take that as a compliment my Lord." Itachi said, rather arrogantly knowing that this confrontation as hardly over. "However, I am the one she pays more attention too, Lord Itachi, I won't let her go to you that easily." Itachi watched the handsome lords face hold a content smile. "Ahh, but my Lord you underestimate the tenacity of a Konoha nin. You will eventually, in time give her to me, and watch from afar in your high place as she find happiness beside me instead of you… And very soon my Lord she will not be able to live without me, and then you will slowly but surely sink into the background of her memories."

The dark words intimidated him, Itachi knew that much, Itachi had already set the traps for Sakura to fall willingly into his hands, while for the Lord, Itachi planned to keep away from his beloved. Itachi was willing to sink deep into her heart where not even she could dislodge him, while she would sink obliviously into his unbeknownst to her. "You are aware of her position in court are you not Lord Itachi?" the Fire Lord bit back, Itachi could see the underlying doubts that the man held. "I am well aware of that My Lord, however, it doesn't change anything I have said, she may be a high councilor to you but when she marries into Konoha I will provide her with everything she could ever need or want, indulge her need for adventure and give her so many thing to do that she won't have a though to spare for you."

Disbelief lined the Lords every being now, but the confidence in which Itachi spoke, shook him greatly making it all the more convincing to believe. It was easy to upset the man, but Itachi knew what he wanted and knew how to get it. "How trust worthy, are you saying you'll protect her from what she needs to be protected from?" Itachi could see the resignation in the man's face. Itachi knew that he won. "She is a free spirit, as you know she hardly needs protection from anything, however, I will be the one to tame her, and be the one who knows her endlessly, and play whatever game she starts." The Fire Lord smiled wryly knowing very well what games Sakura loved to play with people.

"It seems that she has chosen one hell of a monster to love, I suppose I have no choice but to leave her in your hands Lord Itachi, but you must promise to let her come here to court, I would love to see the children you two produce." Itachi bowed deeply, almost mockingly. "I will consider it." Itachi said, "But, may I ask Lord Itachi, what is Lady Haruno to you?" without a pasue of breath Itachi replied, "A never ending mystery." The man laughed at his words, "She certainly is a puzzle isn't she?" Itachi didn't reply, but smiled all the same, like it was an admission in itself.

"Please take care of her." The man said wistfully. Itachi nodded knowingly what the man before him was thinking of all the things that man up Sakura. "Of course." To the right of them the door opened and in strode the object of their discussion, "Is everything prepared?" she asked, as she adjusted her now colorful nin outfit her mask slung around her belt, the flowery pattern on it, showing the being that ws ANBU operative 'Seirei'. Itachi nodded. "Good, Kakashi is back with my battalion of trained ANBU members, while I hold forte you and him will confront the Akatsuki."

She turned away, putting on her mask, her pink hair freely moving around her, the katana strapped at her back catching the dim candle light. "Oh, and before was continue, you are aware that its rude to talk about someone behind their back as well as plan their future without them, don't you, Itachi? My Lord?" Nervously the Lord laughed, and Itachi smirked, she always was good at reconnaissance and information gathering. "Whatever you say, Ma-Cherie."

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Yay!!! Done! Finally, I got to write this today with interruption because I got most of my retard research paper done. It was a long, long 9 page paper that tried to obliterate all imagination! So did you like Itachi's version of 'love'? I thought that it had to be dark and twisted, like Sakura was… well sorta… I think I scared myself when writing about him… XD ^.^' I hoped the thing at the end eased the tension a little… XD

Thanks for reading!!

I have no anonymous!!


	16. Chapter 16

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Disclaimer: Can you believe it?! I don't own NARUTO!

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Chapter 16

She had sent Itachi and Kakashi to pick off their own Akatsuki members to deal with, as for Sakura she had to hold down the forte. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Lord was their target, whether Kumu was there or not, Sakura knew there were other ways to obtain the throne aside from the easiest method that was marrying. Of course as ANBU operative Seirei she didn't pay that much attention to it, but her other more developed character 'Lady Haruno' knew all of them like the back of her hand.

At the moment though she was lazily laying at the platform steps waiting for her destined opponent to arrive, she was itching to do something fun. She couldn't wait to see her opponent, like her counterpart Watanuki she loved to play with her prey; of course, it wasn't the 'creep them out' kind but the 'run them flat' kind. Of all the things she loved to do, killing her victim and using her special flower to mark their grave was the most fun thing available. She touched the flower that was stationary set at the side of her head, the very flower that had horrified the mass shinobi. Her beautiful exploding flower, even though it was pure white laced with silver, it always went off in a fiery blaze.

Of course to her touch it would never go off, she was after all the beloved owner who had cultivated it from its seed. As an ANBU member of all of her counterparts she was probably the one most in tune with nature, thus her name 'Seirei' or spirit. And like any spirit and caretaker of the earth to all humans she detested them unless they could give her an enjoyable time, with either witty banter or providing her with a good fight. And she didn't pay attention to those who liked to command her, when she collected a boss like that she would deliberately do the opposite of what he wanted., of all of her partners she was the most defiant, and as her other side 'Lady Haruno' described, lazy, and totally detached from the world.

That however didn't say that she wasn't a good fighter. She may have been low on the efficiency scale but that didn't make her incompetent. She looked for an intense chakra that would signal the arrival of her fated new toy. Careful not to touch her blade, she unsheathed it, and behind her, the ANBU who waited with the Lord, began to actively search for a strong chakra. Sakura smirked they should have known never to trust her actions, of all the personna's she was the most slippery. She was the most untrustworthy and the one with possibly the worst standing character aside from Watanuki and Kage who couldn't be civil for even a moment.

She held her sheathe in hand the blade in another; careful for it not to touch anything, the corrosive acid she had applied to it earlier could burn through anything, even her own skin, that is, if she wasn't properly careful. At the edge of her senses a strong chakra came hurtling their way, like a spiral the surrounding soldiers and nin she had stationed outside were being mowed over like newly fallen grass, without resistance and without so much as a sound. While 'Ladu Haruno' was calculating and grieving the loss of all those good men, to Seirei it only showed her how powerful the opponent and it gave her something to look forward to.

It wouldn't be any fun if her opponent didn't know anything. Slowly she set the sword in front of her, assuming an attack position while the other lay at her side gently gripping the decorated sheathe. She let her chakra make contact with the other person. She smiled as she realized who it was. And she couldn't have picked a more perfect opponent. For a moment he paused, sand then he opened the doors a moment later she was string into the glassy grey eyes of Sasori.

She tipped her head in an ironic salute, "Been a while hasn't it dear? I was beginning to think that you forgot all about me." From the way he fumed she could immediately tell that he wasn't one for banter. Never the less she still planned on making this fun. She watched him as he slowly sank into an attacking position and watched his hands. Puppet masters used their fingers to control, since Sawako was one it wasn't that hard to connect the two. With her two hands she made hand signs while gripping her sword something she had perfected not too long ago, to give her a more mysterious effect.

Just as he released a rain of what she suspected to be poisonous kunai and senbon she swung her katana releasing a wave of wind to block the attack, causing all of them to fall a few feet short of her. It was amazing that his internal machines could throw it hard enough so that they would keep going in her wave of wind, when usually they would flip and impale the master who had thrown them. It ignited that need to fight in her, the need to dominate and claim another head for her hypothetical wall of trophies. "Not bad." She said offhandedly, sinking lower into a fighting position and then lunging at him, causing him to lift his arms in defense.

When her sword met with his wooden hand, it began to dissolve away, watching as his eyes widened, he back away quickly from the door leaving her standing at the door frame. From the way his expression turned to stormy she knew that this game was far from over. She smirked, something she wouldn't want any other way.

~(Itachi)~

It was easy to lure the big shark man into his waiting sharingan, easier to trap him into his world of Tsukiyomi and destroy his conscious, although Itachi had to admit that he was sturdier then most, and probably would have survived longer if he had some decent genjutsu training. It looked down at the man and his mysterious sword, which Itachi didn't even attempt to touch it, it somehow seemed alive, and Itachi could see a waiting trap when he saw one. The battle in his eyes, ended all too soon. And it made him think that he was getting the short end of the stick.

Either way it was a good chance to investigate the enemy. Itachi got to work, searching the now mentally impaired Asatsuki, Itachi had made it so the man wouldn't wake until Itachi wished for it, he stopped at one of his big blue hands. On it was a ring. Itachi took it off, and looked at it using his sharingan to investigate, it had lots of seals applied to it, many of which even he couldn't recognize. It was however a clue, maybe one that could help them hinder the Akatsuki. Although at the moment they were a pain, Itachi and Sakura greed on one thing, and that was not to completely eliminate their threat. They may be evil, but as Itachi had learned, when one evil fell and more evil presence rose in its place, he and Sakura were trying to limit that evil so that their ancestors and those they protected.

He and Sakura had no plans in eliminating either Orochimaru or the Akatsuki, they knew the repercussions of them falling, if they killed them their underlings, not knowing what to do for themselves could easily just start tearing up the countryside, and none of the Great nin villages had that much spare time to spare hunting each and every one of these individuals down, nor would they have the patience to deal with a stronger threat, Itachi knew well that it was just best to keep a balance of powers. Nothing could ever become peaceful Itachi knew that and all he had to think of was to merely eliminate the immediate threats.

Danzo being one of them, the Akatsuki who were attacking them were another. There was only much he as a human could do, Itachi got up just in time, as the Akatsuki's body began to bloom white silvery flowers. He backed away, Sakura had warned him of those flowers, she had her other self plant it in hopes that there would be an Akatsuki stupid enough to try and touch him all of the blooms would blow them both sky high. He had to admit it was a long drawn out clever strategy. He looked to the horizon seeing the flashes of Kakashi and Sakura's battles, as tempted as he was to run over and help them, he had to continue with their plan.

It worried him that he hadn't word from Konoha, aside from Sasuke and Naruto's letters reporting that they were both safely back in the village. It meant that they were fighting. Leaving the body of the fallen Akatsuki he made his way to Sakura's personal compound where he knew that a squadron of her personally trained ANBU were waiting, all of trained by at least one of her other sides. Slipping on one of his own ANBU masks he nodded, and they all disappeared, him along side of them toward Konoha, where he would lead their battalion into battle against any opposing force hindering the Akatsuki, and providing relief to Konoha nin.

Although he did want to stay back and watch over Sakura, he knew that it was best to believe in her. Being that their goals were more or less the same, right now the main concern wasn't each other's safety but eliminating an enemy to preserve happiness of the people and allowing the Fire Lord to keep his seat. Although the Lording in Itachi's eyes was a bit immature, he knew the potential that lay behind the baby fat of his experience. It was usual for someone to try and defy Itachi what he wanted, whether they knew him or not. Itachi had a feeling, that with his help and Sakura's he would become one of the shrewdest Lords there was possible.

Itachi wasn't sure that was a good thing though, he didn't like the fact that he might have to compete with the Lord seriously for Sakura's attentions. Itachi didn't want to hand the man the tool to effectively do that. He flew through the trees with their current brisk pace they should get there in a day or two at most, with rest to have them all in top condition for fighting.

Itachi flew through the trees, the wisps of her chakra slipping from his internal radar, he wished her the best of luck, and then headed putting himself into the long unused ANBU commander that he was, it was time for his time to shine, sitting in the shadows allowing Sakura to do everything wasn't his style and he felt a lot of frustration from being unable to use all of the chakra built up, of course he never let his physical attributes drop sparring with at least one of these men or women for a time and then the continuous target practice that never seemed to end. As it was Itachi never really required much sleep unless he had diminished all of his chakra reserves but during his stay at the palace, there really wasn't anything he could wear his chakra off on.

Even this run seemed like a simple thing in his head, but he knew that the time was approaching to let the people he was leading to rest, he was well aware that not everyone could keep up with either his or Sakura's chakra reserves. A few moments when he began to hear slightly labored breaths he signaled for the stop. Looking to the full moon that the night was, he could only hope for the safety of his love, and that Kakashi would follow after bearing good news.

~(Sakura)~  
Although it had been her first ever time playing against a puppet, let alone a sentient puppet, his every finger movement triggered an immediate response to either attack or defend, with the occasional element slash wave as she continually made her hand signs against her blade and sheathe, She had to admit that he was good, although she had avoided getting cut by anything the force of other objects that hit her bluntly were starting to ache. Even so she couldn't enjoy a fight like this anywhere else.

However the rush of the initial rush was beginning to wear off and she was beginning to see her little doll friend as less interesting. And now she was contemplating how to end it, so far little dolly-chan had only to pull out a giant battalion of other puppets which at times were hard to dodge but interesting enough, but now that she had defeated around twenty or so disabling around thirty others she was beginning to find the game very monotonous. Bored she lowered the tip of her blade, defending with only the sheathe, in hopes that it might get more interesting, since she had signed and almost cut off the puppet nins arm she wondered if things would have been more interesting if she had let it be.

If she had maybe he wouldn't stay so far from him, but when she thought about it Sawako did that often too. She sighed, boredom starting to dampen her little tryst of fun. She guessed that it was probably time to end this. She reached to the side of her head and plucked a petal from its silvery being, using the string she usual had at the tip of her katana she let the dangerous implement of war hang there, swinging like a pendulum the counted down the time, whatever water that touched it causing it to sizzle. Closing her fist over the lone petal she made the appropriate hand signs while her opponent watched her warily, a mistake on his part, he should of attacked her every chance he could have gotten.

She rolled her wrist three times and opened her hand to reveal that the petal had split into many more of them, using the wind she blew on them gently creating a breeze letting them swirl toward him, unlike her usual flower that exploded on contact this was only the first part of this jutsu, "What are you doing?" he asked, she could hear the slight alarm in her seemingly useless action, "Flirting, what do you think? I'm doing?" From the epicenter of the swirl an ignition started, and like a canon the fire hurtled at him in immense speeds.

It served two purposes, one was to have a chance at killing him, she watched as he sidestepped, and dodged. Another reason for it was to spread the petals. All of them now becoming seeds scattered on the ground, and when she released the seals on them they would bloom. It was a beautiful process. Like Hotaru she had been borne out of solitude, the only thing that separated them was that Seirei was also borne of the love of nature, and the ability to say any snide remark that came to her mind.

"Shall we end this?"She asked, bored out of her mind, his presence was starting to irritate her, "Very, well and when this is all over you'll become my doll."She smirked under her mask, there was no possible way he would ever be able to control her, even in a puppets form. He took out a bigger scroll, and summoned another doll, it was dark with big black wing like projections, pretty o look at but she could already see that the doll before her was the former Kazekage of Suna. It didn't impress her.

She regained her grip on the hilt of her sword, turning it artfully like a fan in a half circle, she channeled her chakra through it, it was time to let her dear flowers see the moon for the first time. Just as the puppet moved to attack she slammed the sword into the ground letting the chakra leak out and make its way to her flowers, that were beginning their bloom. Just as quickly she raised her sheathe to block the attack as all of the flowers bloomed in rapid succession. She had always been the most comfortable with the element of earth. Using their roots as vines her flowers answered her call and took down the puppet wrapping it in their tight embrace no matter how many times it fought to stay free.

Eventually they got inside destroying it from inward out, and then it became nothing but rubble under her beautiful blooms. She guessed she had to wish the soul that and been trapped in its casing for so long a farewell. Although she didn't know the Kazekage personally she had heard that he had been a good man, and she had no choice but to hope for his peaceful settlement in heaven. She watched as her flowers grabbed at the other nins legs and kept him there in one place. Closing her eyes she concentrated on that one spot and brought two fingers to her face, and then released the flowers.

Simultaneously without hesitation they all exploded, ending the life of the Akatsuki before her. She looked to the moon, a feeling of loneliness settling over her, not minding the blunt wounds she had gotten, blocking out the vying of Sawako to go get herself healed. Of all of the counterparts, Seirei saw herself the most rational and the one who looked at them all at once. It felt sad to be incomplete. She closed herself from her other selves, something she shouldn't be able to do if she was human. Which is why she hated humans so much they always knew what they were, not like Seirei and the others so fragmented and broken, sheathing her sword, she turned to see a glint in the moonlight, it was a ring. She moved to pick it up, it was an Akatsuki ring.

Gently she tucked it in a pocket. When this was all over, and she and the rest could go back to itachi without worries, Seirei would ask him. She would ask him to merge them, to complete them, and then finally then, maybe they could all live more peacefully. She knew it wasn't an easy thing to do, but if she knew Itachi through her other selves if it was one person it was him. Inside her, she could feel the ten other consciousnesses, like being in a room full of people who couldn't fully get along to work as one. Seirei could feel the stress each and everyone put on this body, and knew that at this rate, its life would keep getting cut down.

She could feel time for this being ticking down, and the only way to still it and make it move slower was for the body to settle on one personality. Although Seirei didn't want to particularly die, she knew that it was for the best. They had been created to separate their powers, having a strong being in one place wasn't a good thing no matter how good the person was, they could go mad because of the power. It was easy to see. As someone who didn't want to become an implement of war, as much as she liked to kill she liked peace and solitude more. She began to make her way back to the Lord, she had to check on him before checking on Kakashi, whose powers were the dominant in the battle.

She was glad he was here. Aloofly she strode to the Lord picking a flower from the ground and tucking it in the crook of her ear, all of this was to become complete. She knew that the moment they had met Itachi. Whether her other sides knew it or not Seirei was determined to make it happen. As it is they had seen enough death and decay that could terrify a nation, and it was time to settle down, maybe then they could enjoy life to its fullest, instead of dedicating themselves to others. She knew it was selfish, but it was so human, and pure, something Seirei in a way wanted to be. Complete

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Done! Waiiii!!!!! Thanks for reading I hope you liked it! We finally got done with the third quarter of school and I had to scramble to keep my grades nice and pretty mostly A's and B's ^.^ Sorry if I made you wait a little too long… I hope I also didn't do it on the over contemplation part of Seirei….

Bye!

To my anonymous

To angel897: Will do!~~~~~  
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To Sarah: Thanks I'm glad you like the whole political party thing… My dad is an aspiring politician so as a result I get dragged into the whole social smile and fake story things. Those parties are my inspiration for what I wish I could do to a lot of those politicians, but alas I have no power. As for the whole 'do you know someone like that'… Unless I think of myself as the example no I don't think so, as a habit I collect friends who are straightforward and weird. Not one of them is like me. As my parents and sibling describe me, I'm terribly twisted and evil, so you might count the side of Sakura as some of my other sides too. Actually I think a lot of people can relate to her sides.

Example. Kage, like the inner demon who wants to rip and rend all who get in your way, but since we have a society like that we keep it locked away where as Sakura can use it on jobs. Watanuki. The crazy side of us all, at one point in our lives we must have contemplated suicide and our more dark nature, Watanuki becomes an example of that and so on and so forth… That sort of thing ^.^ Thanks for reviewing! I hope I didn't write back for your response too much XD.


	17. Chapter 17

Thanks for the world of encouragement, and support!!!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, if only… but I don't…sigh

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Chapter 17

She sat at the higher seat just slightly below the Lords throne behind her usual tatami mat, in anticipation, she was waiting for the word that they were safe, the anxiety that ate at her was deafening, she wanted to fly to Itachi's side but knew that she was better needed her to defend the Lord, of all priorities he was number one. He was the reason she sat in wait, while the love of her life fought for her cause. To think that it had only been four months since this whole thing happened. When once she had been content to be alone, she no longer felt that way. Sakura knew that living without her crazy psychopath was no longer an option, she knew without him her life would return to the drab colors she had once embraced.

Over the course of their devastating night she had collected the dead bodies of the Akatsuki, or at least the dead and the semi living, she had been glad that one of the two were left alive, that way she could interrogate him, without explicit torture, drugs after all were great incentive, operative Seirei was also good at that sort of thing. While she waited in the babble of noise that was the court she mulled over the other personalities thoughts, Sakura knew what she thought about her split personalities, and Sakura found herself unconsciously agreeing that it wasn't the best to have such a separated mind, but Sakura also knew that combining them wouldn't be easy. Time had made her that way, and only time could combine her, and make her complete. A long process but Sakura could see the merits of a combined self, and all of its defaults, she could combine herself and make herself more powerful, but in turn she could self corrupt because of it, but she knew that with Itachi there to limit her and keeping her from being driven crazy with power, it was now a possibility.

Originally, she had kept herself separate, in hopes that those powers would never touch, as it was having power could be a double edged sword, too much power could corrupt easily she had seen it happen more than once before, and Sakura didn't want to become one of them. Corruption had killed her parents, and corruption could easily do the same to her. Being all powerful had its downfalls, and Sakura didn't want to lose herself in that ecstasy. Even now as she contemplated combining herself, she thought of the consequences, and she knew that some powers she would have to drop or seal off. She wanted to be one person, and if she wanted to be happy she could only be one person, and that was what she was going to be. Her alter ego's would have to sink into the back ground, and her abilities would dwindle, they would become 'who she had been' instead of what she was becoming now.

And as weakened as she would become, she would have Itachi to support her and keep her sane in all of his twisted personality and wily ways. She knew that with him she could truly reach the happiness that many talked about, the happiness that she had always yearned.

When this had all started, when her parents died, and she was left all alone, she had created these selves to hide herself from the world, and to protect herself from the transgressions of life, never had she encountered one who had tried to understand her or try to see what really lie beneath until she had met Itachi. Itachi she knew was looking through them to see her, a novel experience that she would never forget, it was an interesting notion, she had thought her defenses were invincible, given that no one had ever tried or even remotely succeeded as he did. She never thought that anyone could accept the way she was now, it seemed that Itachi was just a special case, because of it she trusted him explicitly so. He had never given her a reason to doubt him, so she would wait for the news. Bringing herself back from her contemplating thoughts she steadied herself and began for the trial at the moment she had discarded her Seirei outfit, in favor of her 'Lady Haruno' dress, at the moment she was surrounded by nobles who were idly discussing the latest news, quietly she tapped her fingers, he should have arrived at Konoha by now, and all she could do was hope for the best while she defended Konoha here in the courts.

She knew that the elders and those who were against Konoha would mention it there was no way that they wouldn't, today she was without her veil or any protective head gear, and although she was behind the curtains provided she knew though that soon even that defense would be taken away, and with it her freedom of anonymity. She knew that any smart courtier would challenge her words and demand that they see her. This ordeal was quickly ending, and she had accepted that. In order to maintain peace sacrifices must be made.

Even if that meant chaining herself to the fact that there will never be a day that she would be totally safe, as not everyone liked her views. But, in doing that it would give her a chance to flush out any who opposed her, it was also her last chance to suppress the samurai uprising. "Did you hear about Konoha?" asked a noble, she knew that it was an invitation for her to speak, everyone knew of her opinion about Konoha, and she knew everyone's opinion on the shinobi as well. "Apparently their having a dispute again." If she recalled that was Toudou's voice. "Again? How disgraceful to fight so much, it reflects poorly upon our country."

Before anyone could say anything further she took the chance to speak, "If I recall not too long ago the Bakufu and the Shinsengumi were at it amongst themselves, yet, we do not speak ill of them, so why do we speak ill of the shinobi when all they have done is to defend the very people to protect? Very least wise, they do it for a cause instead of the mere pursuit of power."

"You knew something of it?" A noble asked, a low ranking one, "Correct. I have made it my duty to know everything there is to know about it, as my fiancé, Uchiha Itachi is a citizen and general of it." Sound erupted at the tidbit of information, "Did you not know?" she asked when the subsided, "He is the heir to one of the prominent families, and our union will bring a solid bond between the world of the shinobi and the royal court." Many gasped, mostly the women who chattered and speculated. She knew who they had planned for her; she also knew that everyone was in on it, as not many liked her presence, as a main supporter for the shinobi.

"Lady Haurno!" exclaimed a Lady, one who had thought she had come close to Sakura but really hadn't. She was Lady Toki, Ryoutaro's sister. Sakura smirked and let out a solitary laugh that silenced them, "Did you think I wasn't aware of your efforts to marry me to the Kummori clan? Once again you insult my intelligence and resources. You know I support Konoha, and yet you try to restrict me with your childish moves."

And as expected, the intended they had wanted her to marry spoke up. "What does that shinobi bastard have that I don't?" Sakura sighed, she hated when they got emotional. It made them harder to get to. "I wasn't aware that the samurai clan instilled such horrible manners, even if Itachi was your 'so called' competition calling him a 'bastard' is uncalled for, I'm sure that if Lady Uchiha heard her son being talked of in such a manner she would send all she could to hunt you to the ends of the earth. I suggest you don't say that in her presence as shinobi know how to kill people more ways than slashing down with a sword." Sakura knew that the one example alone suggested what Itachi had that he didn't.

"That's why we shouldn't support them; they can easily turn on us and kill us using those 'many ways'." Sakura chuckled, at the foolishness. And she proceeded to talk to them calmly as if they were merely children, "That is the reason why we should support them, with them by our side how many could we eliminate? Exactly who is it that assassinates for us? Do you think it is Samurai? Not they lack that subtly that keep our enemies from tracking those assassins back to us. Who is it, you think protects us from other countries assassins? Certainly not the samurai, their expertise does not rely on the shadows as shinobi do.

"You are foolish to think that you can do everything with, just the help of samurai," There was a pregnant pause, but Sakura knew that they wouldn't go down that easily. All of them were incredibly pig headed and saw no merit in arguing like this unless they could take someone down with her, and Sakura knew that she looked like the perfect scapegoat. Sakura could only brace herself for their words.

"I have thought this for a while 'Lady Haruno' why is it that at every turn when it comes to shinobi you refuse to relent on the subject, always insisting to keep them, and the tatami mat you place between us and you," Sakura snapped her fan out fanning herself, "Is it not proper to keep such conduct?" she asked, "But the laws that have segregated women and men through those blinds have long been stricken from our moral code, so why is it that you wish to keep your anonymity? I can only speculate that you do not want us to see you, so how do we know you are really from the Haruno clan, when we are not even allowed to see your face? How do we know you aren't just one of those shinboi who try to trick us?"

Sakura flinched slightly at the words, she had hoped to never reveal her identity but knew that she was still a main target, and no matter how many times she looked at the situation if she wanted the Fire Lord to be safe she had to draw their attentions to her, without her controlling the court with a socially naïve Lord was quite easy. "I see. So that's what you've thought of me, if you were just curious and had brought up the matter before I would have complied. The only significant reason I didn't want you to see my face was for you to judge me based on my intellect not my looks, and my Lord wanted the same." She knew she shocked them, sighing she turned to her liege and root of all problems, "My Lord?" she asked. Knowing that permission would be granted, he nodded in her direction.

Her clothes sighed as she stood up using the nearby railing to lever her up, because as ever court clothes were uncomfortably heavy and she wanted the comfort of solidity by her side. Then finally she pulled aside the curtains that had hidden her from view, and for the first time they could see her for what she really was. Unlike many of the court ladies she had maids put her hair up in the traditional Haruno style in a decorative style of braids and shiny hairpins that doubled up as senbon. She wore one of her famous name brand kimono, she was dressed to impress.

And impress she most certainly did, Sakura was after all the only one here with pink hair and green eyes, the Haruno clan had always been said for these features, and said to be descendants of the very spirits who lived in spring. It was also said that it was her clan that had broke through and established the hierarchy and brought the world to reform. On top of her high standing it made her a religious icon and the child of those who led the revolutions and kept the current world as it was. It made her all the more intimidating that there was nothing of hers that they could criticize.

She ran the state perfectly, she had no rumors about her unless they were started out of spite and she had high standing as well as money. To them she knew, she was untouchable, but that never stopped them from sending the occasional assassin from time to time. She looked to the paling Lady Toki alongside her stoned brother Ryoutaro, "Are you satisfied with this result?" She said nothing merely looking away. Sakura slowly closed her fan allowing a fuller access to the view of her face she knew the things she could do with just a suggestion now, if she tweaked a small genjutsu they would all become pliable under her spell and she could effectively weed out any oppressor.

A strong suggestion of the voice using vocal chords to tweak the listening and understanding of the mind was an effective yet hard practice. However she felt that she could pull it off she knew enough, it was something she had incorporated, using her movements to attract attention and then lower another's guard low enough for her to use that suggestion, it was something she had thought up of when she heard the different modes of the sharingan before she had went to Konoha in an attempt to assassinate Danzo. Gracefully Sakura descended the steps to one that was laden with pillows but still slightly higher than the rest of the court nobles.

"Now, shall we continue our earlier conversation, now that we know I am the genuine thing?"

~(Itachi)~  
He looked at the high walls being bombarded with the Akatsuki, the trap plans that he and Sakura had laid out were working, they seem to have injured the Akatsuki greatly, but Itachi knew that a normal nin still didn't stand a chance against them, silently he relayed his orders. Among the nin there was a common hand gesture that coded for different hings among the ANBU class it was even more sophisticated. Itachi had mastered them all. He sent those whom Sakura had trained under the operative name Sawako and sent them to the inner part of Konoha which he gave the back passage ways to earlier. They would aid greatly in healing. As it was Konoha had few medics to speak of, there weren't too many kunoichi to cover that department and all men ever thought about was the glory in fighting.

He could say it was Konoha's greatest flaw but with Sawako's apprentices Itachi knew that the village lives would be safe under their watchful eye. Sakura had sent her best resources with him, ultimately leaving her in a more disadvantageous position and ITachi would use them to their full worth. He wouldn't insult her by sending some back to cover her. Itachi had full trust that she could do what she was set out to do, Itachi was confident that she would be alive when he next saw her. She had to be, Itachi would allow it no other way.

Leaping to a branch he used the remaining forces, aside from Hotaru apprentices whom he had also sent to reinforce the Konoha's defense, to attack with him. Itachi activated his sharingan and carefully took off his mask; he would be there to ensure the other nin that these people weren't enemies. Itachi looked at the already fallen, some Uchiha and some of other prominent clans. Itachi would be sure to not let their sacrifice go in vain. Itachi lifted one hand and then let it fall it was time to begin the real fight. With a blink of an eye he led the remaining forces of Sakura's into the battle, in hopes for this to end, and in hopes that he could preserve the peace she had kept for them for so long.

He owed her that much for he could only imagine what ridicule she had to go through to protect Konoha from Court aggressions. Itachi knew the extreme vehemence that the Samurai held for shinobi and their ways, and he could only applaud her ability to keep them away even though she had never met them. Itachi caught a glimpse of his mother on the wall, dressed in her former ANBU gear directing the chakra flows of each individual to ensure that they weren't over worked, along with her Lady Tsunade their current Hokage. He could see their exhaustion. He pulled out a kunai, and stalked the woods having already sent out the remaining forces. Shielding his chakra he got close, not that the Akatuki member minded, at the moment he was cursing about the barrier that Konoha people had set up, the bodies of other shinobi strewn across the ground. Itachi sensed that some were still alive.

Using this distraction to his advantage, Itachi made hand signs that allowed him to combine several jutsu's and then the very moment the man turned around his pale features etched in surprise his scythe relaxed at his side, Itachi attacked. He didn't have time to play with an opponent Itachi was playing for keeps, and this man would be the first casualty in the Akatsuki's war.

~(Sakura)~

As she spoke she pitched her voice slowly so that none would notice the nuances she used, and the tone she knew though that her subliminal provocation was working the way their faces contorted in rage even though she only brushed the subject of Konoha nins and the Samurai uprising. She knew that many were at their breaking point. She already knew those she was looking for, she had already investigated the matter she knew how she needed to arrest and who to provoke into saying something foolish. Snapping her fingers a maid brought Sakura the hand written notes of her spies she had established in the palace. "Have you ladies and gentlemen heard of a possible Samurai uprising?" she asked directly for the first time in the conversation.

The room began to murmur, and those who conspired against her stayed promptly silent. Sakura scanned their faces coolly; all of those who had tried to best her looked to the floor before them, confirming her suspicions. She looked to Ryoutaro, his face twisted in utter confusion, she knew he had nothing to do with this, he was too honest, just as well it was good to know that she could keep an excellent army general. His sister however, was a different matter. She had spent a little time in the royal harem and it seemed to have gotten to her head, Sakura had warned the Lord that his womanizing ways would get him one day. Sakura just didn't think that she would get dragged down with him. Another lesson to set aside, for now though she was sure she could win this battle, with the nervousness that began to fade from showing her face, her doubt and fears melted away.

Sakura knew who she was, what she was, and everything else she wouldn't allow some half baked scheme stop her. She was after all the highest lady in the court. Fleetingly she looked down at the paper, and began to name the conspirators, she had enough of this Samurai uprising and she planned to take it down, and hard without mercy. As was her duty, too keep the balance of power, and to keep the Country of Fire safe. Only then could the citizens live in peace, and when they could Sakura could allow herself that one happiness her heart had always looked for.

~(Itachi)~  
the battles had raged on for days, as expected the Akatsuki didn't bring just themselves but people who followed their beliefs. Typical and troublesome however it was the very basics of war even if those who oppose weren't particularly strong; they served as a way to tire out the enemy. Itachi being one main target, it seemed that ever since they had found out that he was fighting on the field every time he began to fight he was swamped with their ranks, then he would be pit up against an Akatsuki member. It ate away at his vast chakra reserves quickly. Itachi did however have to applaud their vitality once they had learned that he was there, they immediately drew up rank and it became hard for Itachi to kill off the main members without having to go through fifty other nins, and by then Itachi had severely dented his chances in winning.

However, the war was slowly turning in their favor. With the relief nins he had brought in there were less exhausted nin, and with him to direct his ANBU troops instead of Danzo, the attacks became more precise and military based, to the true epitome of nin fighting causing less casualties. Although it was a slow victory Itachi knew that they were winning. Despite the Akatsuki's great tactician skills they had no main camp to meet at that was protected and they had no nin who were proficient in healing. Any nins they did had Itachi gave the order to get rid of. While they couldn't get to their food supplies, to ruin their reserves, Itachi made shifts to keep them up at night while their nins rested safely at home.

After any enemy that was sleep deprived was already half beaten, poor sleep led to rash decisions. An enemy who was also afraid lessened their chances of winning. Ever since Itachi had brought the disciples of the ANBU 9, or at least that was what they liked to call themselves, the enemies were more paranoid and strung up than usual. The fact that the ANBU nine disciples were here, usually meant that the actual ANBU members weren't far behind. In this case however, Itachi knew that they wouldn't be coming Sakura had to fight the court and she also had to protect the Fire Lord. And although she wasn't physically fighting with them, her spirit and her resources provided Itachi knew in full confidence that they could win this war, and quickly before any other village could try and eliminate them for sake of competition, territory, and power.

He knew that Konoha had full backing of her ANBU team. All of it reassured him, he knew that he could count on the ANBU, she had given them, and their loyalty for only the most loyal or the most ambitious could be there, for the sake of safety for the court. He knew that he could always count on her judgment. Her quick mind and preparations for seemingly everything made everything run smoothly as they should it would explain why the ANBU soldiers she had sent could conform to any problem that they were thrown their way. She had even made sure that the people she had sent over would conform quickly to Konoha's nin and make it feel as if they were a team even though it had only been two days into their integration.

By now Itachi knew she was waiting for his words, of safety and of triumph, he had promised that they would win and he would come back victorious as a present to their impending and eagerly awaited marriage. His mother was already avidly forming plans in her head despite the situation. Since learning that Sakura was a Lady of the High court, the Uchiha clan members congratulated him and made no effort of retaliation as they would have if they had not known. He looked out from their chakra protected walls; they had managed to take down five of the ten original Akatsuki members. Although Itachi wouldn't completely destroy them he would dent their forces enough or them to retreat.

He watched as the Akatsuki prepared for another accumulative attack on their Konoha fortress. He would take that chance to take out their leader, it would be enough for the forces to retreat and it would take a while for them to regain their composure…Not only that but a new tidbit of information had come in. It seemed that their leader was one of the Uchiha clan. What had originally been Konoha's matter became personal. As the head of heir of the Uchiha clan he had to settle this matter before it came back to haunt them forever. Plus if Danzo caught wind that Madara Uchiha had tried to take over Konoha once again there might be an uprising in the ranks and those with seated clans would quickly lose their standing. He couldn't afford that sort of confrontation, not when he was getting ready to receive Sakura, into the family; he wanted to provide her with peace not another nest of problems that would be put into her lap if she married him.

That was something he didn't want her to worry about. Itachi spotted the leader of their ranks; he saw the orange swirled mask bob through the crowd red and black cloak billowing. Even though it seemed as if the jokester was a fool, Itachi could feel the underlying malevolence, not only that but in his earliest memories, Itachi could remember Madara being such a person. He was the reason that the Uchiha hated the foolish, it hid an underlying evil that they hadn't seen before, it was the reason that from way back when Itachi could remember those small things as a child he had been trained by his father to virtually be a walking robot, his mother had thankfully shielded him from becoming more inhuman than his father had tried to make him.

The clock was counting down, and Itachi knew that it was time for the final battle, quietly he leapt over the wall landing softly on his feet, he made his way to the shadows where he would hunt his next prey. It was time to settle their last dispute. Not only that but it would close the last chapter to this unfinished story of the Uchiha past, and being the one who had stopped the revolution from happening, it was time for him to end it once and for all. Before he had been too young to catch the wily old Uchiha, but that was no more and his skills had far progressed. Concealing his chakra he went on his hunt knowing that in full confidence, Konoha would be fine without his instruction, in that one moment he thought of Sakura, he would be sure to get out of this alive, no matter what the cost, he smirked, not only that but he couldn't very well die without completely solving the puzzle that was her.

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Done! Whew! Sorry I had a major mental block, the ACT pressure is getting to me -.- sorry. Anyway I made it a bit longer to make up for it. Sorry for leaving it at a cliffhanger I know how you guys don't like it, but I didn't think I could continue ^.^ without making the chapter ridiculously long. Thanks for reading! XD

To my anonymous:  
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To angel897: You don't have to worry about the writing it'll keep happening ^.^


	18. Chapter 18

Thanks for everything! This story bids you adieu!~

Disclaimer: If I owned anything I wouldn't write this in the first place XD

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Chapter 18

He spied the orange masked Uchiha in a clearing he was alone leaning up against a tree, "I had been expecting you, young Itachi." Itachi activated his sharingan, but didn't move from his position in the trees. He knew that Madara had long gone blind, after all the use of his brothers eyes could only last for so long. He watched from his hiding spot chakra concealed. "I know your there, Itachi, do you think I wouldn't be quick to recognize the chakra signature, no matter how muted, of the person who had ratted me out to the village elders?"

Itachi watched as the older man took off his orange mask, it unnerved him that the face behind the mask was the same as he remembered; only his eyes were red, but they were slightly blurred. Even so, Itachi didn't doubt the formidable force this man had. Itachi didn't doubt that Madara's skill had deteriorated like most would assume of an old enemy. There was a reason the old fox had been trying to collect the jinchuuriki and Itachi didn't doubt that he had started to try and use their chakra as his own. Although he couldn't stop himself from aging and eventually dying he could slow the process as much as possible.

Those red eyes swung up to his hiding spot, and Itachi noticed the subtle differences, he had a few more lines on his face, but it was still as ambitious and commanding as before. "Surely, you don't intend to hide up there forever Itachi?" Sighing Itachi removed his own mask, and let himself drop from the canopy onto the ground. Every line of his body tensed and ready for Madara to move, his chakra built up within him to dispel any genjutsu that Madara tried to pull on him. Despite him being an Uchiha, if the opponent's sharingan was more powerful he could get pulled into an illusion the opponent and Madara despite his age was someone to be feared.

He knew though that Madara would attack just yet, the one thing that the old man liked to do first was relax the enemy before drawing them into a fight unprepared. It was underhanded and effective, the very meaning of the Uchiha name. "It has been a while, honorable elder, Madara."Itachi said inclining his head just a bit but never taking his eyes off of the former kinsmen. "Honorable elder eh? I'm glad to see your manners haven't dropped a bit Itachi. That's the good boy I had trained to be the Uchiha clan leader, a shame I'll have to destroy such talent." Itachi didn't reply, it was how Madara usually got his prey they concentrated on the conversation, rather than the animal that could destroy them once their guard was down.

Itachi inclined his head. "I heard you've gotten engaged, I would have never thought, the queit boy who I had taken under my wing already grown up to make his own decisions and woo his own women. Lady of the High Court Haruno no less! As a relative I should go meet her sometime, don't you agree?" Itachi smirked; he could see that encounter going oh-so-well. It did a lot with Sakura trying to wring this man's neck and dismembering him in the most painful ways possible. "My Beloved would be thrilled, she is rather fond of…strange things." Itachi could just imagine Sakura looking at the orange masked man and asking 'and you're sure this is your relative?' The notion was amusing but it didn't distract him in the least. "Sigh, as ever your reactions to everything are so very boring. I don't see what the Lady sees in you."

Itachi shrugged and put up his hands as if he didn't know why as well, and then in the same motion he was clashing kunai with the elder in fierce combat. The other nin grunted at the impact, and Itachi could almost hear his bones creak. "You always were an impatient little tyke. You would have done better if you were just as dull as your brother Sasuke." Itachi flashed him a razor smile, "Don't let him hear that, if you don't remember Sasuke always had quite the temper on him." The older man shifted positions, to get Itachi's attention, but right away he sent out the necessary chakra to ward off any genjutsu the elder nin threw his way.

"He always was rash like his father, foolish man, he was too easy to manipulate for an Uchiha." Itachi blocked a sharp downswing of a kunai, he held Madara place trying to place his sharingan effects on him. "Did you forget that my father is your nephew? He had to have gotten something from you, you shouldn't insult family like that, it comes back to hit you." A moment later they were on opposite ends of the playing field. "Just like you did Itachi?" Itachi didn't flinch at the fact that he was accused for betraying his clan, although few saw it that way many saw the blood bath the struggle for power would have ensued especially since the citizens had been happy with that times Hokage.

"It was your miscalculation old man, wasn't it you who taught me to be 'prepared for everything' and 'trust no one, even your own family'? Such hypocritical words, you couldn't even see me sneak around your back and destroy your plans, you trusted me to keep a secret, an unwise move on your part." Despite Itachi's prodding he knew he only scratched the hard surface. He knew that the older Uchiha was mad but also knew that he was a clear thinking fighter, even if he was angry he wouldn't be rash. He knew though that this would move up his attacking and maybe he would get out of this alive. He knew that the faster you made Madara move in his little mind game into a physical attack, because his body wasn't completely in synch due to his old body he wouldn't be able to fight as well.

Itachi watched him his gaze never wavering looking for any sign of quick aggression. He saw the trademark twitch of the older Uchiha's hand that signified a readying of an attack and dodged the blow just barely before grabbing the aggressing arm and taking his equipped a hand and stabbing it into the back of his Akatsuki enemy. The grunt of pain and the red liquid that spilled out confirmed that this was Madara's real body, but that didn't mean the older nin was down for the count. Itachi wrapped his leg around the elder nins leg and yanked bringing him to the ground where Itachi would get better access to his face. He had the elder's attention now all he had to do was reel him in.

He slammed firm shoulders against the ground to find that the old fox had closed his eyes, a smirk on his face, "Oh, Itachi you're still so young." Itachi watched as the man turned into the Uchiha trademark black crows and disappeared from under him, he had been caught in a genjutsu. Quickly he forced out the necessary chakra and rolled out of the way, but only after he had received a hard kick in the ribs that, broke several of his ribs. Gritting his teeth he held in a yelp of pain, he sent chakra to that area to numb it sealing off his nerves, it was a matter he needed to take care of later, and he could only hope that one of those broken ribs didn't touch his lungs.

"I must thank you for engaging yourself with such a prestigious lady, maybe I'll take your form from now on and take your place." Itachi watched as the smiling face morphed into a version of his. He could see Sakura now looking at this dopple ganger and punching him as hard as she could to see who it was.

She always did like mindless violence and it would be one of those few times that she could use it. "You'd be surprised about what Ma-Cherie knows of the shinobi world. As it is I'm not marrying her for her status, that is however a great bonus." Itachi got up, kunai in hand poised for another round. A moment later he clashed kunai with Madara, a confident smile on his face, but Itachi would soon wipe that smile off of his face, after all he had so many other tricks up his sleeve.

Flipping out of the older man's reach Itachi pushed chakra out in a solid form making a blade extension from his foot, as if he were swinging a blade. It was an unorthodox move, but after watching Watanuki, Itachi saw the advantage to moves like this, twisting he jumped away before another attack could touch him and then he looked to the older Uchiha to admire his handy work. He watched as the older Uchiha touched the deep gash on the side of his cheek, his eyes slightly disbelieving. The shocked face turned from shock to avid interest. It was another advantage; instead of detached feelings for a fight he would be obsessed over cracking the puzzle just as every Uchiha was famous for.

"Interesting, but can you do it again?" They sparred like that for several minutes getting faster and faster, and the chakra Itachi could extend from his limbs began to blur making whip-like effects around the field. It was fast a furious for several minutes before they skidded in opposite directions panting. As expected, the old man hadn't let himself go, and Itachi couldn't only thank that he had picked up a few tricks from Sakura and her…different personalities. But Itachi could tell that he was beginning to flag, Madara was a man who fought short battles mentally breaking down and going in for the easy kill, not long drawn out battles, although he had a lot of chakra his body couldn't keep up. Itachi put a hand to the leg Madara had slashed, he was sure that the blow had bit into the muscle; he couldn't see Tsunade berating him already.

Although Itachi sustained his own injuries, Madara wasn't too far from his condition in fact Itachi was sure that the man was on a slightly worse level then he. Like Itachi he was bleeding, but all of Itachi's slashings weren't just to hit him, effectively he had incorporated the Hyuuga household's gentle fist and hit the chakra points that he could. Itachi internally smirked it would all be over soon. They rushed each other and Madara's body didn't hold him, causing him to slightly stumble. Using chakra Itachi threw kunai furiously as he charged the other nin not letting up in the least. He finally got an advantage and he wasn't going to let this chance slip. Grabbing the elder nins neck Itachi held tight, and Madara struggled for air. Positioning his hands, Itachi yanked hard, effectively breaking his neck with a resounding crack.

Huffing, and tired he slumped slightly, his actions had caught up with him, and he felt the adrenaline rush of the battle go away leaving only the searing pains of his injuries, apparently without his knowing the old man had done a number on him as well. Tiredly he made his way to the shadows of the trees to keep concealed before resting against it, his limbs felt too heavy for him to move and the chakra bind he had put on his ribs snapped without warning, it made it hard for him to breathe. Itachi looked to the sky, the sun was beginning to set, and it seemed that he had fought longer than he had thought.

He hoped that an ANBU team would be dispatched soon; he was sure that if he stayed like this for the duration of the night his chances of surviving would surely plummet. Even so, he saw the importance of not moving at the moment he didn't want to rupture anything, carefully not to jostle his apparently broken collar bone he reached for a flare and lit it, that way someone was bound to find him, he only hoped that it wasn't an enemy. Closing his eyes relying on his other senses he concentrated on breathing. "Itachi!" called a voice; he was beginning to think he was hallucinating. For some reason it sounded very female and so like Sakura.

Cracking open an eye, he watched as a pink blur stood over him shouting his name over and over again. He wanted to tell her it was alright, that he was fine, and to stop shouting it might alert enemies. "Kakashi! Help me carry him!" said the voice, commanding as her kind hands bound his chest. He hissed in pain as the medically detached but slightly shaking hands ran their chakra through him making minor repairs so that when they transported him a rib wouldn't accidently puncture a lung. "Itachi! Don't you dare die on me, you do and I'll kill you again!" said her voice, as she held his hand no doubt checking his pulse.

He felt his body begin to shift onto another, Kakashi no doubt, "Take him to the village Tsunade will take care of him I'll take care of the body." There was a pause, probably Kakashi nodding in acceptance for he spoke no words. He felt himself slowly flying through the canopies, he could hear the steps of smaller animals probably Kakashi's summons. "We won." Came the one comment from the other nin. Itachi mentally snorted, 'Was there any doubt in your mind that we couldn't?' He wanted to tell the older man but found that he couldn't move, as it was breathing was hard, and just like that he succumbed to the oblivion on the unconscious world.

~(Sakura)~

She looked down at the body that was Madara Uchiha, to think that the infamous nin had finally been apprehended, to think the man who had tried to recruit her and kill her so many times, with the Akatsuki was finally dead. She was glad she had come, after finishing up her work at the palace she had rushed over here, so see the results because of the lack of contact. They had won, and the Akatsuki had fallen of course she knew that the organization wasn't completely dead, and there were chances that she would be apprehended again, but she knew that no one could fully stop aiming for her life, danger came with the territory of being who she was. Pulling out a scroll she sealed the man inside, making him easy for transport, there was a lot that they could find out from his body, his plans and such before she would hand it over to the Uchiha's for the formal dismemberment. Something she would watch and attend she had no intention of letting another Uchiha know his secrets so easily.

Sliding the scroll into her pack she looked to Konoha, she had one last thing to finish, and this time she wouldn't be the one to dirty her hands, no she could easily have the remanding Akatsuki do it for her. Without a proper leader perhaps she could take over and then combine them, although she saw that as unlikely the power gap between them and even her ANBU trainees were too great she was afraid she was going to have to let all of that talent go to waste, even so they weren't any use to her or the protection of her nation the way they were now.

Sliding on her ANBU mask careful to keep her pink hair hidden she ran to ROOT headquarters. She had a mission to finish, and she wouldn't stop until it was done.

-

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Slipping into the compound through the front doors, as everyone was scrambling to bring order back to the village she knew that at this moment Danzo would be at his most unprotected, going off on something that the main clans shouldn't be the one in command, and that he would forego his own safety for the safety of others. As noble as it sounded his views and ideas didn't fit here. Walking quietly on the rafters not a sound issued, nor her presence showing she approached the old man. Then she appeared before him slightly startling him. "What is it?" Taking out an identical scroll identical to the one she had put Madara in she held it out to him with both hands. She had found his body on her way to Konoha, apparently someone had done Pein in, from the way that several of her trainees bodies were strewn, and the long white hairs that belonged to one of the Sannin Jiraya she could get a clear picture of what happened. Silently she prayed for those who had died, those she had tutored, and for those who still lived.

In an indiscernible voice she told the old man, "This is the body of the leader of the Akatsuki." He smiled. "Very good." Taking the scroll he dismissed her and she took her place among the rafters where she could watch the end of the old man. She knew that one of the Akatsuki members had been in love with, Pein. Sakura knew that as a last dying testament the woman would come and kill Danzo for the scroll, and when she did Sakura would deliver a swift death as well. Sakura concentrated on herself as she watched, unraveling the necessary skills to defeat such a member. In a flash the woman with blue hair appeared, her Akatsuki robe torn and tattered, her left hand hanging limply at her side, bleeding.

For a moment the woman's undying loyalty touched her, Sakura knew that if she were in a similar situation there was a great chance that she would drop everything to save Itachi. Even so, this wasn't a world where they could live anymore, and Sakura felt that it was her duty to bring the woman to her loved one on the other side; she felt that it was only right. Without a word the woman attacked, probably feeling the familiarity of Peins fading chakra inside the scroll Sakura had given Danzo. In a moment, it was over Danzo shouted out once before he hit the ground and the solemn blue haired female looked at the scroll in her hand whispering to it. "I have bent toward your will, Lady Haruno, now will you do me the courtesy of sending me to him?"

Konan asked, Sakura looked down at her, and she looked at Sakura eyes very dead. Once upon a time, they had been something of friends. A time when Sakura's house hadn't fallen, it was through this one blue haired girl that her family house had fallen. Konan had been Sakura's older sister, by Sakura's father's mistress. The house and family had fought to push one of them to be the heir, and that had sparked a war. It was an old story, and although there had been a time when Sakura had blamed the older woman, Sakura no longer did. Jumping down from the rafters, she took off her mask to see her half sisters face clearly for one last time.

She had grown into a beautiful woman, like the flower stationed in her hair. "It seems that we're on the opposite end of the spectrum again, wouldn't you agree Konan?" The older woman smiled slightly, wryly, but her eyes had given up all life. "It would seem so." She dropped the scroll; her fingers couldn't seem to hold it anymore.

Sakura slid out a kunai and Konan did nothing to stop her, as the times she had before, then again those times Konan had something to live for. She didn't have anything like that anymore, Sakura wondered if Itachi died, would she do the same? Or would she stubbornly live her life out, without him? Neither seemed to be a pleasant, one last time they made eye contact, tiredly Konan closed her eyes, "Do what you need to do." With the one sentence Sakura ended her only sister's life, and with a barely audible 'thank you' she fell to the ground her eyes closed and peaceful. She stood above the fallen body, and took out the scroll and summoned Pein's body placing it next to Konans body painting a story.

She clasped them together, Konan was wrapped in his arms, Sakura was thankful that the post mortem hadn't set in just yet keeping their bodies pliable enough for Sakura to alter the evidence. People would remember them as lovers and head of the Akatsuki regime forever. It was the only thing that she could do now for her sister. Listening to the hallways and feeling the chakra signatures of others she melted into the shadows, not checking what their reactions to the scene were. Her job was done and she had finally finished what she had originally set out to do.

~Epilogue~

-The wedding-

She walked solemnly down the aisle. The ridiculously thick veil that obscured her vision covering her face, people were cheering, music was playing, and flower petals were falling lighting her way to her groom, Itachi. She walked smoothly although her floor length dress with an even longer train was ridiculously heavy. She smiled, as she took his outreached hand, unclasping the Fire Lords hand, he had wanted to be the one who gave her away. Nobles and shinobi alike cheered for the union, and it couldn't have made her any happier. "You look lovely Ma-Cherie."

Knowing he could see the brilliant smile she flashed him she replied, "You don't look half bad yourself Weasel dear." They listened to the sermons taking their vows, under the brilliant blue sky. "Do you Itachi Uchiha, take Sakura Haruno to be your lawful wedded wife?" Itachi held her left hand with the ring a bit tighter. "I do." Turning to her the priest spoke "Do you Sakura Haruno take Itachi Uchiha to be your husband?" Looking up through the veil she looked into his dark, dark eyes. "I do." The priest turned to the crowd. "Does anyone have a reason to oppose this union? Speak now or forever hold their peace." No one spoke up, no one would dare. Mikoto would skin them alive before a word slipped through their mouth. The notions made Sakura smile even brighter.

"You may kiss the bride." Lifting the veil gently he exposed her face, his eyes appraising her delicate features. Then he brought her into a passionate kiss that had the crowd going wild, partially from congratulations and partially to embarrassment. Then he released her. "You do realize that being married to me will be far from peaceful." She told him in slightly hushed tones. He smiled, "All the more enjoyable Ma-Cherie. I wouldn't expect anything less." Hand in hand they walked to the fairy-tale like festivities, not a cloudy thought in their mind, only considering the thought of the rest of their lives together. Forever, until death do they part.

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Done!~ With the story in general!!! It was sweet! Thankies for all of your support throughout this story people and I hoped you liked the ending. XD Although the part with Konan was a bit sad I thought I should give you a clear explanation for how Sakuras house fell in the first place since it didn't make sense that such a high family fall so hard… (oh another thing I don't really know what relationship Fugaku and Madara have…. So yeah…)

To my anonymous:  
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To angel897: There! Dealt with Danzo! And best part of it is his death can't be traced back to her!!! It was a bit tragic but unfortunately not all stories can end happily!

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Sarah: Will do… too bad this is the last chapter….*cries* Thankies for all the reviews answering your questions were fun!


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